Yokohama Nichigeki Theater

The Yokohama Nichigeki Theater originally opened its doors on December 29, 1953 as a Japanese film house, but switched over to American films following the installations of CinemaScope around a year later. During that time, it gained popularity in the area with its neon sign displaying in front of the theater.

During its final years of operation turned into a quadruple whammy throughout the early-2000s. This includes one of its chains, Chuo Kogyo, running out of business because of poor box office performances, the rise of multiplexes, the death of its owner in September 2004, and severe flooding by Typhoon Jebi in October of that same year. Throughout much of 2004 and 2005, many theaters in the area were forced to either transfer to other companies or just forced to shutdown. The Yokohama Nichigeki was one of the victims, closing on February 18, 2005.

After it closed, there was talk of demolition, but due to strong voices from local media such as TVK expressing regret at the disappearance of this “symbol of Yokohama,” a company called Friendam at the time reopened the former theater as an event studio in December 2005, temporarily saving it from demolition. Furthermore in May 2006, the Nichigeki Revival Preparatory Committee was established to explore ways to revive it as a movie theater. Unfortunately due to issues with earthquake resistance and air conditioning, it was decided to demolish the building in April 2007.

Throughout both March 17 and 18, 2007, a final special screening of “Cinema Paradiso” was held bringing the entire theater building to a close. The special screening also featured the actual AMC Nash Metropolitan from the Mike Hama series making a special appearance on the stage.

Prior to the demolition, the neon sign above the main entrance was removed and donated to Yokohama, which is considering using it for display at events. The ticket-picking stand was donated to the aforementioned director Kaizo Hayashi and moved to a film studio in Kawasaki. After being demolished later in 2007, a 10-story apartment building called “Lions Yokohama Isezaki” was built in January 2009 and remains in use to this day.

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