Hiroshima Scalaza Theatre

The Hiroshima Asahi Kaikan opened its doors on December 16, 1958 and was located on the 7th floor of the Hiroshima Asahi Building featuring a capacity of 828 seats. It first operated as a multi-purpose house that screens movies, present live performances, and lectures among others.

A second 360-seat movie theater named the Hiroshima La Scala (or Scalaza) opened in 1966 elsewhere in the same building. During the reconstruction of the Shochiku Toyoza and Hiroshima Meigaza Theaters from 1972 to 1975, the La Scala temporarily operated as a Shochiku premiere theater. In its later years, both theaters screened films from the Shochiku Tokyu group, both foreign and Japanese, from the Marunouchi Piccadilly group.

The original Hiroshima Asahi Kaikan closed as a movie theater in March 2003 with Jackie Chan in “The Tuxedo” when it relocated nearby. In July of that same year, the Asahi moved to its current location, which has more seats, as a survival strategy. Meanwhile, the Hiroshima Scalaza Theatre continued to operate until closing for the final time on September 6, 2009 with Tom Cruise in 2003’s “The Last Samurai”.

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