Niigata Bandai Toho I & II

50sSNIPES on March 20, 2026 at 2:54 pm

Another fact about the Niigata Bandai Toho I & II is that this is the first ever Toho theater to install video theaters, which is a then-newly-developed system by Cinematic Japan, a subsidiary of Sony. Although Shochiku was already under a big expansion in its video theater business, Toho’s entry is likely to accelerate the transition from film to video. At the time, Toho Tobu Kogyo cooperated with the Urayasu Pocket Cinema, that was managed by the Urayasu City Facility Utilization Promotion Corporation, and possesses know-how regarding the operation of video theaters.

Yoshiyuki Ogawa and Osamu Iwatani serves as both manager and general manager of the theater, who also were the ones replacing their earlier Toho in Niigata, the Niigata Takarazuka Kaikan (April 23, 1970 - November 29, 1992), and help construct the theater itself.