TOHO Cinemas Nichigeki

The Nippon Nichigeki Theatre was built on the site of the old Japan Theatre (which has its own Cinema Treasures page) and opened its doors on the Hankyu Men’s Tokyo side of the Yurakucho Center Building on October 6, 1984 with “Once Upon A Time In America” in Screen 1 only. Screens 2 and 3 opened with the foreign films “Ohan” and “Anna Pavlova”. All three of its auditoriums first went with the names the Nippon Theater (as a special tribute to the Japan Theatre), the Nichigeki Toho, and the Nichigeki Plaza, but were renamed the Nichigekis 1, 2, and 3 following its March 2, 2002 renovation. Screen 1 was located on the 11th floor while Screens 2 and 3 are both on the 9th floor. All three auditoriums were collectively known as the “Nichigeki PLEX”.

The Nippon Nichigeki Theatre is one of the most popular movie houses in all of Tokyo, which ran a ton of American first-run box-office smashes throughout the years.

A lot of those films that screened there include “Ghostbusters”, “The Neverending Story”, all Terminator films, the 007 series (including “A View To A Kill”, “License To Kill”, and “Goldeneye”), all three Back To The Future films, “Cocoon”, most Rambo films, “Commando”, “The Jewel Of The Nile”, most Alien films, “The Karate Kid Part II”, “Over The Top”, “Top Gun” (Top Gun was shown twice almost a year apart, it was first screened in the Plaza auditorium in late-1986 and again the following year in June 1987 in the Nippon auditorium), “Peggy Sue Got Married”, “Predator”, “The Untouchables”, “Over The Top”, “Jaws 87: The Revenge”, all Robocop films, “Broadcast News”, “Rambo III”, “Willow”, “Who Framed Roger Rabbit”, “Die Hard”, “Cocktail”, “Scrooged”, “Black Rain”, most Cannonball Run films, “Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade”, “South Carolina”, most Home Alone films, “Ghost”, “Total Recall”, “The Godfather Part III”, “Dances With Wolves”, “Backdraft”, “Kindergarten Cop”, “Hook”, “Beauty And The Beast”, “Jurassic Park”, “Cliffhanger”, “The Three Musketeers”, “Mrs. Doubtfire”, all two Major Leagues, “The Lion King”, “Forrest Gump”, “Pocahontas”, “Twister”, “Independence Day”, “Air Force One”, “Titanic” (Titanic ran in the 11th floor Nippon auditorium for 126 days with an extensive screening at the Plaza on the 9th floor after its run inside the Nippon. The film shifted to the Nichigeki Plaza and continued screening until its final showing on June 19, 1998. Also to note is that “Alien 4” only ran there for a short time due to its scheduled screening of Titanic which drawled thousands and thousands of moviegoers. It was so big that they have to add in a standing room), some American Godzilla films, “Saving Private Ryan”, “Armageddon”, “Enemy Of The State”, “Doctor Doolittle”, “Tarzan”, most Toy Story films, “Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace”, “The Green Mile”, and “Apocalypse Now” among many many others.

Screen 1 (the Nippon) screens the most on the list of films that were screened at the theater as well as it being the largest chain master of Toho’s foreign movie chain. It originally housed 1,008 seats with two wheelchairs when it opened with rows of seats were located between the 11th and 13th floors, and the screen measures 7,20x17,30m. The capacity was downgraded to 944 seats during the 2002 remodel. Screen 1 was also the largest movie theater that Toho operated in the Hibiya area, as well as its auditorium becoming the largest with the most seats after the closure of the Shinjuku Tokyu Milano since January 1, 2015.

Screen 2 (the Toho) was originally a Japanese Toho affiliation of the Hibiya Cinema nearby, and originally housed 708 seats and one wheelchair featuring 8.00x16.86m screen as well as its seats being located between the 9th and 10th floors. The capacity was downgraded to 666 seats during the remodel.

Screen 3 (the Plaza) was originally an affiliation of the Yurakucho Theater’s Toho foreign film chain. It housed 554 seats and one wheelchair with a 5.40x13.00m screen, and was downgraded to 522 seats during the remodel.

All three auditoriums featured Dolby 5.1ch sound alongside Dolby Digital Surround, EX, DTS, and SDDS sound systems. The March 2, 2002 renovation featured several changes including that the viewing environment was improved by making the seats larger, but the capacity of each theater was reduced in exchange. The seats didn’t became reserved until 2004. In October 2006, the operating company changed from the Toho Company to the current TOHO Cinemas chain, and the screen names and the collective name for the three theaters were ultimately changed on February 17, 2009.

Unfortunately due to the preparation for the opening of the TOHO Cinemas Hibiya at the Tokyo Midtown Hibiya redevelopment project in Yurakucho 1-chome led by Mitsui Fudosan, the popular TOHO Cinemas Nichigeki closed for the final time on February 4, 2018, after more than 33 years of operation. As a tribute, “Godzilla”, “Top Gun”, and “Titanic” were all screened that same day. After its last showing of “Godzilla” was screened inside Screen 2, Japanese actor Takada Akira took the stage and explained to the audience about the behind-the-scenes production, and at one point becoming emotional and crying. After his speech, he passed on over to its last manager, Sato Nozomi. He spoke to the crowd and said, “I’d like to thank over 100 million customers for coming to see us, and for the love we’ve received from everyone that has allowed us to continue screening films,” bringing an end to the approximately 84 years and two months of history since the old Nichi Geki era.

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