TOHO Cinemas Hibiya

Both the Hibiya Station and the Yūrakuchō area formerly had several movie theaters in the past before the opening of the TOHO Cinemas Hibiya, including the Tokyo Takarazuka Theater (later known as the Ernie Pyle Theater; 1934-1955) and the Hibiya Scala Theater which opened on July 14, 1955 with James Stewart in “Strategic Air Command”. There was also the Miyukiza Theater which opened on April 14, 1957 with the Japanese film “Murder at Akebonoso”.

On February 1, 1971, Japan’s first non-rewind projector was introduced at the Miyukiza, and throughout much of Christmas 1974, X-rated film “Emmanuelle” became the biggest hit throughout the Miyukiza Theater’s history with more than 370,000 attendees throughout its run.

The Hibiya Scala Theater closed in December 1997 with “Air Force One” due to the rebuilding of the Tokyo Takarazuka Building.

On December 16, 2000, the “Hibiya Scala Theater 1 & 2” opened its doors under the auditorium names “Scalaza 1 & 2” located on the first basement floor of the Tokyo Takarazuka building featuring 491 seats including two wheelchairs in each auditorium. Each auditorium has differently colored seats, with blue at Screen 1 and red at Screen 2.

During that theater’s operation, the nearby Miyukiza Theater closed on March 31, 2005. The following day, Screen 2 received the auditorium name “Miyukiza” in honor of the former theater. Screen 1 was renamed to just “Scalaza”.

On February 2, 2009, the “Hibiya Scala Theater 1 & 2” was renamed “TOHO Cinemas Scala”.

The theater did receive major upgrade when a 13-screen TOHO Cinemas Hibiya was constructed in 2017. Both TOHO Cinemas Scala’s Screens 1 and 2 were renamed Screens 12 and 13 for the TOHO Cinemas Hibiya, which opened on March 29, 2018 on the 4th & 5th floors of the Midtown Hibiya building..

It was the largest modern movie theater in all of Tokyo with a 2,880 seating capacity and 13 screens. Screen 1 which housed 456 seats has the installation of three wheelchairs (while the remaining 12 screens have two wheelchairs), and Screen 12 (formerly Screen 1 of the Hibiya Scala) was the largest auditorium with 489 seats. The remaining 11 auditoriums have ranging capacities of 98-395.

Screen 1 was listed as a premium theater for the Toho chain, and is equipped with custom order-made speaker systems that reproduces the acoustics of a concert hall and “premier” luxury-seating reclining leather cushions. Along with Screens 5 and 9, Screen 1 also has premium box seats, and both Screens 1 and 5 also has the installations of TCX. Screen 4 has the installations of IMAX Laser which was installed on November 4, 2022. Screens 5, 7, 8, and 12 used VIVE Audio from Christie Digital Systems, while Screens 6 and 9 used sculpted sounds by JBL. The remaining screens have Digital 5.1 Channel audio. Screen 5 also has Dolby Atmos only in supported titles.

Get Movie Tickets & Showtimes

Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.