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2. GENERAL SITUATION IN EACH PREFECTURE
We will look at the film business situation in each prefecture.
The film attendance in each prefecture in 2018 has not been announced to the public (Motion Picture Producers Associationof Japan, released in January 2019). We obtained these figures as rough estimates based on the attendance in eachprefecture cited in the “Special Service Industry Situation Research Report on Film Theaters” (Ministry of Economy, Tradeand Industry, 2009, 2010, 2013 and 2014, 2015 and 2017). We calculated the average percentage of attendance of eachprefecture against the nationwide attendance cited in the above reports. Then, using the number of the nationwide
attendance in 2018 reported by Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan, we multiplied this number by thepercentage of each prefecture, to come up with the attendance of each prefecture in 2018.
From the numbers above, we can see that naturally, the prefectures with big cities and the “ordinance-designated cities”(bestowed higher autonomy) dominated the top of the list, such as Tokyo, Kanagawa, Osaka, Aichi, Saitama, Chiba, Fukuoka,
Hyogo, Hokkaido and Shizuoka.
The above prefectures also occupied the top of the list of the number of screens. From 2017 to 2018, the number of screensincreased by 40 nationwide, and from 2016 to 2017, that increased by 54. From 2015 to 2016, the number of screensincreased by 39; from 2014 to 2015, the increase was 73, showing a constant increase. During the recent three years(2015-2018), the number of screens increased by 133. Tokyo (From 358 to 378, 20 screens increase), Aichi (258 to 292, 34
screen increase) and Chiba (199 to 2019, 10 screen increase) are notable.
The average number of films a person went to see annually was obtained in each prefecture. The national average in 2018
was 1.3 films, slightly lower than 1.4 of 2017. Tokyo’s number, 2.0 films, was the highest, followed by 1.6 of Kanagawa, Kyoto,
Osaka, Ishikawa and Aichi.
The national average population per screen was 35,443. When this figure is lower, it means that there are more screens in
the area, and the inhabitants feel the screens are easily accessible. The numbers in only two prefectures, Ishikawa (18,737)
and Yamagata (19,461), were each, less than 20,000. The average numbers of films a person went to see annually in Ishikawa
was also above the national average.
On the other end, the prefectures whose average population per screen exceeded 50,000 were: Kochi (64,171), Yamanashi(62,953), Miyazaki (59,985), Iwate (53,963), Nagasaki (53,578), Fukushima (53,220), and Tottori (50,956).

In these

prefectures, people live far from screens and the average numbers of films a person went to see annually was less than 1,with limited opportunities to watch films at theaters.
The inhabitants living in these prefectures are considered to enjoy less from film culture, however, each prefecture’s
situation is different. In the areas where there is no movie theater, traveling movie theaters are occasionally hosted at publicvenues. Recently, new types of independent film exhibitions have been increasing and new movements creating community
spaces to watch films have been replacing movie theaters. Movie theaters obviously support local film culture, but we haveto take it into consideration that rich film exhibition environments could be uncounted in these film business statistics.

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General Situation in Each Prefecture 2018

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Changes in Number of Screens in Each Prefecture 2009-2018
The nationwide number of screens in Japan increased by 172 from 3,398 to 3,570 during the 10 years from 2009 to 2018.
During these 10 years, there were two critical events. The first one was the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011.
The second one was the movie theater’s digitalization (a shift from film to DCP). This theater digitalization, for the most part,completed by 2013. From 2010 to 2012, the number of screens decreased by more than 120, and 15 multi-screen theaters
with 118 screens closed. However, after 2013, the number has been once again increasing.
The prefectures where numbers of screens have notably increased during the last 10 years are: Aichi (by 38 screens), Kyoto(by 24 screens), Yamagata (by 21 screens), Chiba (by 21 screens) and Osaka (by 17 screens). In the prefectures with big
cities, multi-screen theaters have been opening in city centers. During the last 3 years (2015-2018), notable increases wereseen in Aichi (by 34 screens), Tokyo (by 20 screens) and Chiba (by 10 screens).
The two cinema chains that are the main forces behind these increases are TOHO Cinemas and Aeon Cinemas. During thelast 10 years, 72 multi-screen theaters opened with 675 screens. Aeon Cinema (until 2013, Warner Mycal Cinemas) has
opened 23 sites (theaters) and 212 screens since 2009, becoming the biggest multi-screen theater chain in Japan with morethan 90 sites. TOHO Cinemas has also been attracting a lot of attention by opening 16 sites and 155 screens during the last
10 years, including ones in city centers like Nihonbashi, Shinjuku and Ueno and Hibiya.
Prefectures where the numbers of screens have significantly decreased during the last 10 years are: Miyagi (by 17 screens),
Gifu (by 20 screens) and Hokkaido (by 10 screens). During the last three years from 2015 to 2018, Miyagi increased its
number by 14 screens. In the Tohoku Region, its number increased in 2018 by the opening of a new multi-screen theaterwith 9 screens in Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture.

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Changes in Number of Screens in Each Prefecture 2009-2018

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Changes in Number of Theaters and Screens according to Theater Types in Each Prefecture 2009-2018
We will see how the number of theaters and that of screens have changed according to theater types in each prefectureduring the last 10 years.

Hokkaido and Tohoku Region
In the Hokkaido and Tohoku Region, the number of screen in 2018 was 370, decreasing by 6 from that in 2009; and thenumber of theaters in 2018 was 65, decreasing by 17 from that in 2009. Their number of screens occupied 10% of thenationwide number, and the number of theaters occupied 11%. During the last 10 years, its population decreased by 5.5%
(the national average was a decrease of 1.0%). This decrease rate was more dramatic compared with that in other regions.
Its population occupied 11.1% of the nationwide population.
During the last 10 years, notable changes include Hokkaido’s number of theaters decreased by 10 and its number of screensdecreased by 10; and Miyagi’s number of theaters decreased by 4 and its number of screens decreased by 17. In Hokkaido,
conventional theaters closed in Sapporo City (Marion Cinema in 2009, Sapporo Toho Plaza in 2011, Dinos Cinema in 2011
and others) and mini-theater Sasori-za in 2014. In other cities, community-operated theaters such as Cine Tokachi Prince
Theater closed in 2012, and Theater Voice in 2013. In Miyagi, there were 95 screens in 2008. However, 2 multi-screen
theaters in Sendai City (Sendai Korona World with 12 screens and Izumi Korona World with 10 screens) permanently closed
after their temporary closing upon the 2011 earthquake. At one time, its number dropped to 64 screens. However, TOHO
Cinemas Sendai (with 9 screens) opened in 2016; Theater Forte which was closed after the 2011 earthquake, re-opened as
United Cinema Fote Miyagi-Ogawara in 2018. During the last 3 years, its number increased by 14 screens to 78 screens.
Miyako Cinemarine, a movie theater operating traveling screenings along the sea shore of Iwate Prefecture after the 2011
earthquake, closed in September 2016, leaving this seashore area with no movie theater. In the Hokkaido and Tohoku
Region, Yamagata Prefecture increased its number of screens notably by 21 screens and 3 theaters, due mostly to the
opening of 2 multi-screen theaters (Forum Higashine and Aeon Cinemas Tendo). In Yamagata, the local theater owners
changed from conventional theaters to multi-screen theaters at a relatively early stage, thus, maintaining the number ofscreens prefecture-wide.
In Iwate, Akita and Fukushima Prefectures, the number of screens per population is low, thus the population per screen ishigh: 53,936 in Iwate, 49,034 in Akita and 53,220 in Fukushima. These figures are much higher than the national average. In
Fukushima, Polepole Cinema Iwaki Onahama opened in 2018 with 9 screens, and its situation has been improved. There aremany areas in this region with no theaters at all, not just limited to the areas along the Pacific Ocean shore. Historically,
traveling screenings taking advantage of public venues have been active. In Odate City, Akita Prefecture, local people
reopened movie house Onari-za in 2014 after it was temporarily closed. Miyako Cinemarine continues to host monthly
screenings, and independent film exhibition activities started in cities such as Miyako, Kamaishi, Rikuzen-Takada, etc., after
the 2011 earthquake. With population shrinking, the activities providing local people with film culture and the experience ofwatching films on a big screen should become increasingly important in areas with no theaters.

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Kanto Region
In the Kanto Region, the number of screens was 1,212 in 2018, increasing by 47 from that in 2009; and the number oftheaters in 2018 was 192, decreasing by 33 from that in 2009. This region’s number of screens occupied 34% of thenationwide number, and the number of theaters occupied 33%. The population during these 10 years increased by 2.3%
(Japan’s average was a decrease of 1.0%), and the population increased in the 4 prefectures of Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo andKanagawa. The population in these four prefectures occupied 34% of the nationwide population.
During the last 10 years in this region, 19 multi-screen theaters opened, and 18 out of 19 opened in the metropolitan area ofTokyo, Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa Prefectures. In Tokyo, 7 multi-screen theaters have opened since 2014. In this region,
only in Gunma Prefecture, the number of screens decreased, due to the closing of Ota Korona World Theater.
In Tokyo during these 10 years, multi-screen theaters increased by 6 theaters and 63 screens, while other theaters
decreased by 32 theaters and 53 screens. Since 2010 in Tokyo, 15 mini-theaters and repertory theaters, 17 conventional
theaters and 5 adult theaters have closed. Particularly in Shibuya, 8 mini-theaters (Cinema Rise, Cine Quinto, Human Trust
Cinema Bunkamura-dori, Cine Saison Shibuya, Ebisu Garden Cinema, etc.) closed and attracted attention.
In other areas, theaters loved by many fans for a long time closed such as: TOHO Cinemas Nichigeki, Ginza Cine Pathos,
Asakusa Meiga-za, Sangenjaya Cinema, Shinjuku Milano-za, Ueno Tokyu, and Kichijoji Baus Theater. However, as we
described above, 7 multi-screen theaters have opened since 2014 in the middle of Tokyo, and in 2018, Uplink Kichijoji, amini-theater with 5 screens, opened in Kichijoji (in the suburbs), making a film theater map change drastically. It wasannounced that in 2019, a new multi-screen theater will open in Ikebukuro (in one of the shopping centers) and there will be
more changes. More multi-screen theaters kept opening in Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa, and it looks like multi-screen
theaters will continue to increase in big city centers.
During the last 10 years, 38 non-multi-screen theaters have opened (including reopening theaters), and 15 are concentrated
in the Kanto Region. Particularly in Kanagawa Prefecture, new types of mini-theater have begun to open, such as Cinema
Amigo (Zushi City), Cine-koya (Fujisawa City), Atsugi no Eigakan Kiki (the former Amyu Atsugi, in Atsugi City), Yokohama
Cinemarine and Cinema Novecento (Yokohama City).
Also, 9 adult film theaters closed and the number of such theaters fell to 4 with 7 screens. Ueno Okura Theater re-opened in2010 after its renovation.

Chubu Region
In the Chubu Region, the number of screens in 2018 was 708, increasing by 16 from that in 2009; and the number of theaters
in 2018 was 109, decreasing by 25 from that in 2009. The region’s number of screens occupied 20% of the nationwide
number; and the number of theaters occupied 19%. During these 10 years from 2009 to 2018, its population decreased by
2.2% (Japan’s average was a decrease of 1.0%), and the population outside of Aichi Prefecture decreased. The region’s
population in 2018 was 16.8% of the nationwide population.
In the 6 prefectures outside of Toyama, Ishikawa and Aichi, the numbers of theaters and screens both decreased.
Particularly in Gifu Prefecture, the number of screens decreased by 20. This is mostly due to the closing of a multi-screen
theater United Cinemas Shinsei. In the whole Chubu Region, during these 10 years, 16 multi-screen theaters opened. Amongthem, 10 theaters opened in Shizuoka and Aichi Prefectures together, and in Aichi between 2016 and 2017, 4 multi-screen

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theaters with 38 screens opened. The number of screens per population of Ishikawa Prefecture is the highest in Japan. Thatof Aichi Prefecture is also high among the prefectures with big cities (Aichi’s population per screen is 25, 819).
The number of conventional and adult theaters have decreased nationwide.
Takada Sekai-kan in Niigata Prefecture, Nagano Roxy/Nagano Shochiku Aioiza, Ueda Eigeki, and Shiojiri Higashi-za in
Nagano Prefecture, changed their programming from that of a conventional theater with big commercial films to that ofmini- and repertory theater, creating new images. In Shizuoka Prefecture, during these 10 years, 11 conventional theaters
closed. In Niigata and Toyama Prefectures, there are no conventional and adult theaters, but only multi-screen andmini-/repertory theaters. In Fukui Prefecture, one-hundred-year old Fukui Cinema closed in 2018. In Toyama, multi-screen
theater Toyama Theater Daitokai, and mini-theater Forza Sogawa (operated by a collaborative organization) closed in 2016.
That year, a new multi-screen theater JMAX Theater Toyama (8 screens) opened, as well as Hotori-za taking over Forza
Sogawa’s programming. In Niigata Prefecture, a mini-theater Tokamachi Cinema Paradise, which operated from 2007,
closed in 2018 in Tokamachi City with its population of 50,000. On the other hand, Gashima Cinema opened with 5 days aweek operation in Satogashima Island.

Kinki Region
In Kinki, the number of screens in 2018 was 586, increasing by 61 from that of 2009; and the number of theaters in 2018 was
94, decreasing by 18 from that of 2009. This region’s number of screens and that of theaters both occupied 16.4% of thenationwide numbers. During these 10 years, the region’s population decreased by 0.5% (Japan’s average was a decrease of
1.0%), and this regional population in 2018 occupied 17.6% of the nationwide population. In Shiga and Osaka Prefectures,
their populations increased.
In the years from 2016 to 2017, no multi-screen theaters opened. However, in November 2018, Aeon Cinemas Tsuminami
opened in Mie Prefecture.
It is a national trend that conventional theaters have been transformed to multi-screen theaters in big city centers. In Hyogo
and Osaka Prefectures, conventional theaters began to close. In Osaka during these 10 years, 10 closed and there is noconventional theater now. (There are 7 mini- and repertory theaters with 14 screens.) In Hyogo, 8 conventional theaters
were closed. Among them, Toyooka Gekijo changed its management, and after a large-scale renovation, it re-opened with amini-theater-like programming. In Mie Prefecture, Jisto Cinema Iga Ueno closed in March 2018 and there is no conventional
theater. In Kyoto Prefecture, the number of screens increased by 24 because 2 multi-screen theaters with 12 screens openedin Kyoto City. A mini-theater Demachi-za opened, and a classic mini-theater Kyoto Minami-Kaikan, which was popular for along time, temporarily closed for moving and will reopen in summer of 2019.
In Nara Prefecture, during these 10 years, the number of theaters increased by 1 and may not look significant. However,there were big changes: 2 multi-screen theaters closed (Cinema Dept Yuraku Cinema with 8 screen and MOVIX Kashihara
with 9 screens), while 2 opened (Cinema Sunshine Yamato-Kohriyama with 9 screens and United Cinema Kashihara with 9
screens). In Nara, there are no other theaters beyond multi-screen theaters, however, the Nara International Film Festival
operates regular screenings throughout the year, not just during the time of the festival.
In Wakayama Prefecture, there have not been many changes except the opening of Aeon Cinemas Wakayama in 2014. In
the cities of Gobo, Tanabe and Shingu, a conventional theater Jist Cinema has continued to operate.

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Chugoku and Shikoku Region
The number of screens in the Chugoku and Shikoku Region in 2018 was 290, increasing by 26 from that in 2009, and thenumber of theaters in 2018 was 53, decreasing by 8 from that in 2009. The number of screens in this region occupied 8% of
the nationwide number, and that of theaters was 9%. During these 10 years, the region’s population decreased by 4.2%
(Japan’s average was a decrease of 1.0%), and the 2018 population occupied 8.8% of the nationwide population.
There were not many changes during these 10 years in numbers. The prefectures whose numbers of screens increased bymore than 10 screens are: Okayama and Tokushima with one multi-screen theater each opened; and Ehime Prefecture with
2 opened. Ehime’s number of screens per population is the third largest after Ishikawa and Yamagata Prefectures. During
these 10 years, there was no change in Shimane and Kagawa Prefectures.
In Hiroshima Prefecture, a multi-screen theater with 9 screens opened in Hiroshima City, while 5 conventional theaters with
9 screens, 2 mini-and repertory theaters and 2 adult film theaters closed, making little to no difference in comparison of
numbers.
Likewise in Yamaguchi Prefecture, one multi-screen theater with 8 screens opened, while 4 conventional and mini-theaters
closed with 10 screens, resulting in no conventional theater. In the prefectural capital city of Yamaguchi, there has been nomovie theater, however, Yamaguchi Center for Arts and Media has been compensating for this situation by presenting a
mini-theater like programming every weekend. In Kochi Prefecture, mini-theater Weekend Kinema M opened in October
2017, taking advantage of an empty building space in the middle of the shopping area in Kochi City.
In the Japan Sea shore areas in Chugoku and in Shikoku, the area with no theaters has spread. In Shimane Prefecture, theShimane Film Festival has been hosting in various areas of the prefecture, providing their local people with opportunities ofwatching films on a big screen.

Kyushu and Okinawa Region
In the Kyushu and Okinawa Region, the number of screens in 2018 was 404, increasing by 28 from that in 2009; and thenumber of theaters was 71, decreasing by 3 from that in 2009. The number of screens in this region occupied 11% of thenationwide number, and the number of theaters was 12%. During these 10 years, the region’s population decreased by 2.0%
(Japan’s average was a decrease of 1.0%), resulting in 11.3% the nationwide population.
In this region, during these 10 years, three prefectures increased their numbers of screens by more than 10. In Fukuoka
Prefecture, United Cinemas Fukuoka Momochi reopened in 2018, after it was temporarily closed in 2016, resulting in theincrease of 24 screens prefecture-wide. In Kagoshima Prefecture, two multi-screen theaters opened, and in Okinawa
Prefecture, one multi-screen theater and two mini-theaters opened.
In Saga Prefecture, one multi-screen theater closed, resulting in no theater in the areas outside of Saga City. In Nagasaki
Prefecture, a conventional theater closed in both Sasebo City and Isahaya City, resulting in there being no theaters except
in Nagasaki City and Sasebo City. In Miyazaki Prefecture, there was no change during these 10 years. In Nagasaki and
Miyazaki Prefectures, the number of screens per population is low, thus the population per screen is high: 55,578 in
Nagasaki, and 59,985 in Miyazaki.
In Fukuoka Prefecture, two mini-theaters (Cineterie Tenjin and Cine Libre Hakata Station) closed in Fukuoka City, resulting
in one mini-/repertory theater in this city. Fukuoka City Public Library presents screenings every day in its Auditorium

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Cinera, functioning as a repertory theater.
In Okinawa Prefecture, two small theaters opened: Theater Donuts in Okinawa City in 2015, and Yui Road Theater in Ishigaki
City in 2018.