| Toho Co., Ltd. | |
| Native Name: | 東宝株式会社 |
| Romanized Name: | Tōhō Kabushiki-gaisha |
| Type: | Public |
| Traded As: | Nikkei 225 component (TYO) |
| Predecessors: |
|
| Founder: | Ichizō Kobayashi |
| Area Served: | Worldwide, mainly Japan |
| Key People: | Hiroyasu Matsuoka (CEO, president and director) Minami Ichikawa (Senior Managing Executive Officer) |
| Products: | Motion pictures Television programs Video games |
| Services: | Film production[2] Film distribution Movie theatres |
| Num Employees: | 3,297 |
| Parent: | Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group |
| Foundation: | (as Tokyo-Takarazuka Theatre Company) Tokyo, Japan |
| Hq Location: | Yūrakuchō, Chiyoda |
| Location City: | Tokyo |
| Location Country: | Japan |
is a Japanese entertainment company primarily engaged in the production and distribution of films and the production and exhibition of stage plays. Its headquarters is in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Toho is best known for producing and distributing many of Ishirō Honda and Eiji Tsuburaya's kaiju and tokusatsu films as well as the films of Akira Kurosawa and the anime of Studio Ghibli, CoMix Wave Films, TMS Entertainment, and OLM, Inc. The company has released the majority of the highest-grossing Japanese films, and through its subsidiaries, is the largest film importer in Japan.
Toho's most famous creation is Godzilla, featured in 33 of the company's films. Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, King Ghidorah, and Mechagodzilla are described as Toho's Big Five due to their numerous appearances throughout the Godzilla franchise, as well as spin-offs. Toho has also been involved in the production of numerous anime titles. Its subdivisions are Toho-Towa Company, Limited (Japanese exclusive theatrical distributor of Universal Pictures via NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan), Towa Pictures Company Limited (Japanese exclusive theatrical distributor of Paramount Pictures), Toho Pictures Incorporated, Toho International Inc., Toho E. B. Company Limited, and Toho Music Corporation & Toho Costume Company Limited. The company is the largest shareholder (7.96%) of Fuji Media Holdings Inc.
Toho is one of the four members of the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan (MPPAJ), is the largest of Japan's Big Four film studios, and is the only film studio that is a component of the Nikkei 225 index.
For filmography, see List of Toho films
Toho was created by the founder of the Hankyu Railway, Ichizō Kobayashi, in 1932 as the . It managed much of the kabuki in Tokyo and, among other properties, the eponymous Tokyo Takarazuka Theatre and the Imperial Garden Theater in Tokyo;
See main article: Toho strikes. After the end of World War II, the new Occupation government allowed and encouraged the formation of labor unions, which had been banned under the Imperial government.[3] During a general strike of film studio employees beginning in October 1946, a group of Toho's ten top stars led by Denjiro Okochi split from the main Toho union along with 445 employees. During the resolution of the strike, a closed-shop provision with the main union led to the establishment of the Shintoho Company, which comprised the members of the dissenting union and former Toho facilities.[4]
The loss of major stars led to the hiring and training of new stars, including Toshiro Mifune.[4] The contract made after the strike stipulated that Toho would only produce films approved by a committee that included union members, which led to filmmakers gaining unprecedented creative and productive control over their films.[4] While Toho produced only thirteen films in 1947, six Toho films, including One Wonderful Sunday, directed by Akira Kurosawa, were ranked among the best ten films of the year in Kinema Junpo.[4] However, each film had double or triple the budget of films produced by other studios, and the company suffered severe losses.[5]
In 1948, the new Toho president Tetsuzo Watanabe ordered a return of the wartime quota of 24 films per year and the end of control over production by the union. In April, Toho management announced the dismissal of 1200 employees,[6] with the aim of both cutting expenses and eliminating Communist leaders from the union.[7] Negotiations failed and the union occupied the studio on April 15, joined by activists from the Japan Communist Party and other organizations, erecting barricades and closing the main gates.[6]
On August 13, the Tokyo District Court decided in Toho's favor,[6] and on the morning of August 19, a district police chief arrived at the front gate to read out the court decision. Two thousand policemen surrounded the studio, reinforced by soldiers, three airplanes, and several armored cars and tanks sent by the U.S. Eighth Army.[6] [8] The union leaders agreed to end their occupation on the condition the union was not disbanded.[6]
Toho was severely weakened after the strikes and produced only four films in 1948 and five films in 1949, and continued to distribute Shintoho films until the end of 1949.[9]
See also: Toho International. In May 1953, Toho established Toho International, a Los Angeles-based subsidiary intended to target North American and Latin American markets. Seven Samurai was among the first films offered for foreign sales.
Toho and Shochiku competed with the influx of Hollywood films and boosted the film industry by focusing on new directors of the likes of Akira Kurosawa, Kon Ichikawa, Keisuke Kinoshita, Ishirō Honda, and Kaneto Shindo.[10]
After several successful film exports to the United States during the 1950s through Henry G. Saperstein, Toho took over the La Brea Theatre in Los Angeles to show its films without the need to sell them to a distributor. It was known as the Toho Theatre from the late 1960s until the 1970s.[11] Toho also had a theater in San Francisco and opened a theater in New York City in 1963.[12] The Shintoho Company, which existed until 1961, was named New Toho because it broke off from the original company.[13] Toho has contributed to the production of some American films, including Sam Raimi's 1998 film, A Simple Plan[14] and Paul W. S. Anderson's 2020 military science fiction/kaiju film, Monster Hunter.[15]
In 2019, Toho invested ¥15.4 billion ($14 million) into their Los Angeles-based subsidiary Toho International Inc. as part of their "Toho Vision 2021 Medium-term Management Strategy", a strategy to increase content, platform, real-estate, beat JPY50 billion profits, and increase character businesses on Toho intellectual properties such as Godzilla. Hiroyasu Matsuoka was named the representative director of the US subsidiary.[16]
In 2020, Toho acquired a 34.8% stake in the animation studio TIA, with ILCA and Anima each retaining a 32.6% stake. In 2022, Toho acquired Anima's 32.6% stake to take a controlling 67.4% stake in TIA, making the studio a subsidiary, and ultimately renaming the studio into Toho Animation Studios.[17]
In December 2023, Toho announced their intent to acquire a 25% stake in Fifth Season for $225 million via Toho International. Following the completion of the deal, Fifth Season will be valued at $900 million; CJ ENM will remain the majority shareholder in the company, with former owner Endeavor also continuing to serve as a strategic shareholder. CEOs Graham Taylor and Chris Rice stated that this investment would empower the company to continue the expansion of its premium slate and create opportunities for collaboration between Fifth Season, Toho and CJ ENM to produce global content as well as content produced in Japan.[18]
Following the success of Godzilla Minus One (2023) as their first self-distributed film in the U.S., Toho declared in March 2024 that Godzilla is their "Intellectual property (IP) treasure" and they had regained retailing rights overseas (which were once abandoned), and now are able to sell, advertise, and distribute their own products to consumers outside Japan directly.[19] The company also said that the film winning Best Visual Effects at the 96th Academy Awards is helping them gain more recognition and advancing more business extension overseas.[20]
See main article: List of Toho films.
Toho Animation is a Japanese anime production founded in 2012, and owned by Toho Co., Ltd., which is one of the top three film distributors in Japan.
Toho has produced revivals and original works. Years shown refer to when they staged each piece.
In more recent years and for a period, they have produced video games. One of their first video games was the 1990 NES game titled Circus Caper. Later, they followed with a series of games based on Godzilla and a 1992 game called Serizawa Nobuo no Birdy Try. It also published games such as Super Aleste (Space Megaforce in North America). They even worked with Bandai on Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, released in Japan in 1988 and in the United States in 1989.
The Toho Cinderella Audition is an audition to discover new young actresses, first held in 1984 and irregularly held since then. It is considered one of Japan's "Big Three Actress Auditions", along with Oscar Promotion's National Bishōjo Contest and Horipro's Talent Scout Caravan.[30]
| No. | Year | The Grand Prix | Special Jury Prize | Others |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1984 | Yasuko Sawaguchi | Minako Fujishiro | |
| 2 | 1987 | Megumi Odaka | Maki Mizuno | |
| 3 | 1991 | Keiko Imamura | Sayaka Ōsawa | |
| 4 | 1996 | Maho Nonami | Misato Tanaka Asami Yamamoto | |
| 5 | 2000 | Masami Nagasawa | Chihiro Otsuka | |
| 6 | 2006 | Manami Kurose | Yūko Masumoto Ayaka Ikezawa | |
| 7 | 2011 | Moka Kamishiraishi | Mone Kamishiraishi Narumi Akizuki Junna Matsushima Hirona Yamazaki | Ryō Ogawa (New Generation Award) Minami Hamabe (New Generation Award) |
| 8 | 2016 | Riko Fukumoto | Yuria Kakizawa Hina Suzuki Amane Kamiya Neo Inoue | |
| 9 | 2022 | Noa Shiroyama | Airi Nishikawa | Kōe Odani (Men's category "Toho New Face") Honoha Yamato (Musical Award) Riana Hirano (Finalist) |
Toho's headquarters, the, are in Yūrakuchō, Chiyoda, Tokyo. The company moved into its current headquarters in April 2005.[31]