Okayama Melpa (II)

Since the Fukutake Kanko Company being formed in 1958 by its founder Fukutake Kazuji, the company operated theaters from all across the Okayama Prefecture. When Japanese theaters became its peak in the 1950’s, the Okayama Prefecture had a total of 143 cinemas, but by the 1970’s, that number went completely down to just 33 cinemas left.

The Jolly Toho opened its doors on December 19, 1971. At the same time, the Okayama Toho and Central Theaters were relocated to the building. This was followed by the Grand Theatre also being relocated to the theater following the expansion of the Melpa (formerly Okayama Shochikuza) into a quad in June 1988.

The reason for the name of the theater, Jolly Toho, is that the theater in the same chain, Okayama Melpa, located in front of the station, also started showing Toho films. Although the name of the theater includes Toho, it also shows films by other companies, Japanese, American, and foreign. Shortly after the Heisei era began, the Underground Central Theater closed on September 27, 1991. This left only three theaters remaining in Okayama City, which were the Jolly, the Melpa, and the Grand. When multiplexes began exploding across the area, they struggled to hold on much longer. The Grand closed on September 19, 2008, and the Melpa closed on January 31, 2022.

On February 1, 2022, the Jolly Toho was renamed the Okayama Melpa in dedication of the former movie theater.

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