Kichijoji Odeon

The Kichijoji Odeon Theater was originally built by Toa Kogyo as a wood-built movie theater near the east exit of Kichijoji Station on the Japanese National Railways line which is now part of the East Japan Railway Company, opening in September 1954. This is Kogyo’s third out of five Odeon movie theaters in Tokyo, all done by Kogyo himself between 1949 and 1952. It was positioned as part of the “Odeon Chain,” a chain of foreign and American films two weeks after their roadshow, such as Henry Fonda’s “Mister Roberts” (Japanese release on December 23, 1955) and Marilyn Monroe’s “The Seven Year Itch” (Japanese release on November 1, 1955). This was part of the massive growth on movie theaters in the Kichijoji area after the war. The only movie theater in the Kichijoji area prior to World War II is the Inokashira Kaikan on 8 Kichijoji Honcho 1-chome in the Musashino City part of Tokyo.

The original theater closed in 1978 and the entirety of the theater was rebuilt after demolition. Four new movie theaters were added in that newly-established building, and all were opened in October 1978. The building featured the Kichijoji Shochiku Odeon on the basement floor, the Kichijoji Academy on the second floor, the Kichijoji Scalaza on the third floor, and the Kichijoji Central on the fifth floor. At the time, there were four other theaters in the area nearby which were the Kichijoji Meigaza, the Kichijoji Musashino, the Kichijoji Toei, and the Kichijoji Toho.

In the early-1980’s, the Kichijoji Shochiku Odeon’s name was shortened to just Kichijoji Shochiku as well as the Kichijoji Academy being renamed the Kichijoji Academy Toho (later Kichijoji Toho). At the same time, the Kichijoji Meigaza was renamed Theatre Kichijoji (later Kichijoji Piccadilly), and the Kichijoji Toho was renamed the Kichijoji Roman Theater. In the early-1990s, the Kichijoji Shochiku was renamed the Odeon-za.

On January 21, 2012, all four theaters were renamed Kichijoji Odeon, and on August 31 of that same year, the 220-seat theater on the basement closed and was converted into a pachinko parlor called the Oriental Passage Kichijoji, leaving the hall with three screens.

The former Central Screen 1 features 246 seats, while the former Scala Screen 2 has 249 seats and the former Toho Screen 3 has 224 seats, bringing a total to 719 seats.

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