T-Joy Wakkanai

The northernmost movie theatre in all of Japan, the T-Joy Wakkanai was the first movie theatre to operate in the Wakkanai area of Hokkaido ever since the closures of the Wakkanai Theatre and the Nippon Theatre in 1988.

The triplex itself opened its doors on June 12, 2010 with three screens and a capacity of 250 seats, with a single wheelchair in each auditorium. Screen 1 housed 65 seats while Screens 2 and 3 housed 85 and 97 seats. Screens 1 and 3 are the only ones to have 3D installations, while Screen 2 features Digital Live Sound Support.

Although it is called T-Joy, it is managed by Saihoku Cinema, founded by Fujita Yukihiro and Takahashi Ippei. Yukihiro was the president of the construction company “Fuji Construction”, and Ippei ran a local video rental store similar to Blockbuster Video in the United States. The Saihoku Cinema chain, which founded on August 18, 2009, joined forces with T-Joy to form the theatre.

With a little notable note, Yukichi Shinada, a Japanese film critic known for his stories on films and how they ran it in movie theatres across Japan, worked at the T-Joy Wakkanai throughout his last several years of life until his death from lung cancer on December 13, 2014, just days before winning the Fumiko Yamaji Cultural Foundation Special Award, the Ishihara Yujiro Award, and the Special Achievement Award at the 28th Nikkan Sports Film Awards.

Therefore, unlike other T-Joys across Japan, the Wakkanai location does not have the internet movie ticket reservation and purchase system “KINEZO”, and instead of the interference shutter type Dolby 3D or the liquid crystal shutter type XpanD, it uses the circular polarization type RealD 3D equipment, which is the only one in the chain, and the services offered differ from directly managed theatres.

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