2. Data
1) General Situation■ Changes of the Number of Screens (1993-2016)
We will see how the number of screens has changed since 1993 when the first multi-screen theaters
opened in Japan. We created the below chart based on Eiren’s “Japanese Film Industry’s Past Statistics.”
In this source, Eiren started to give separate data between conventional and multi-screen theaters in2000, therefore, until 1999, you only see green (conventional theaters). In reality, from 1993, thenumber of multi-screen theaters gradually increased.
In 1993, there were 1,734 screens in Japan, and as the multi-screen theaters spread, this number kept
increasing little by little to 3,472 in 2016, with two exceptions, a decrease of 73 in 2011, and a decreaseof 41 in 2012.
The reason why the numbers dropped in 2011 and 2012 is the digitalization in film exhibition. During
these two years, theaters changed from film to DCP and in 2013, most theaters completed digitalization.
Many small theaters chose to close, giving up digitalization that required huge facility investment. The
Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011 also had influence on the decline. Many theaters
suffered in this disaster, were forced to be closed, and were unable to reopen later.
Graph and chart: The Change of the Number of Screens (1993-2016)

Source: Eiren’s “Japan Film Industry Statistics”

■ Change of the Number of Theater Attendance (2007-2016)
The Great East Japan Earthquake also influenced theater attendance. 2010 set a record for the highest
attendance since 2000, making 220,700 million yen, however revenue dropped dramatically to 181,200
million yen in 2011, and theater attendance dropped from 174,360,000 to 144,720,000. After 2012,attendance recovered and in 2016, thanks largely to commercially successful films (YOUR NAME, STAR
WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS, and others), attendance increased to 180,190,000.
Graph and Chart: The number of the theater attendance (multiply by 1,000)

Source: Eiren’s Japanese Film Industry Statistics■ The Changes in the Number of Theaters and Screens in Each Theater Category (2005-2015)
The number of screens has continued to increase from 2,964 in 2005 to 3,467 in 2015, an increase of503. On the other hand, the number of theaters decreased from 807 in 2005 to 580 in 2015, because 227
theaters (around 30%) closed. Further, when we see the changes in numbers of theaters and screens ineach theater category, multi-screen theaters (the number of sites) increased by 108, mini- and repertory
theaters together decreased by 4, conventional theaters decreased by 270, adult theaters decreased by
61. Many conventional and adult theaters closed during the last 10 years.
The percentage of multi-screen theaters increased from 30% to 60% (to 341 among 580 sites) in the
total number of theaters, and from 66% to 88% (to 3,035 among 3,467 screens), expanding their shares.

Graph: Changes in the number of theaters (sites) in each category
Graph: Changes in the number of screens in each category

Note: The number oftheaters and screens arefrom JCCC’s “FilmExhibition Activity
Almanac 2004” andothers. Eiren’s data havedifferent timeframes,
making some numbers
different from each other.

■ The Changes in the Number of Movie Houses and Screens in Each Category in Each Local Area (20052015)
During the 10 years between 2005 and 2015, the number of movie houses dropped from 806 to 580,
while that of screens increased from 2,969 to 3,467. When we see these in each local area, the number ofmovie houses nationwide decreased, but the number of screens increased except that in
Hokkaido/Tohoku Area. In this area, the population decreased by 480,000 during this period, which isabout 3% of the total population of this area. The population in the victimized areas of the Great East
Japan Earthquake has been decreasing. In September 2016, the only movie house in the Sanriku Coastarea, Miyako Cinemarine, closed. Similarly, the population in Chugoku/Shikoku area decreased by257,000, which is 2.3% of the total population. In these two areas together, 40% of the movie houses
closed during this period.

Chart: The Changes in the Number of Theaters and Screens in Each Category

Movie theater Maps of 2005, 2010 and 2015

When we compare the film maps of 1993, 2005, 2010 and 2015 with each other, we can seethat the majority of movie houses transformed themselves from conventional theaters tomulti-screen theaters. As multi-screen theaters spread, the conventional theaters aroundthem began to be closed, and movie houses began to concentrate on metropolitan areas andaround, while the areas with no theaters spread.
Red: multi-screen theaters; Green: Other theaters