Film Exhibition Yearbook｜2020

I. Film Exhibition at Theaters
Comparison with Foreign Countries [2019]* The data of foreign countries are from:The United States of America (and Canada)：Motion Picture Association of America（MPAA）"Theatrical Home Entertainment Market Environment (THEME) Report"
France：Centre National du Cinema et de l'Image Animee（CNC）"Bilan du CNC"The United Kingdom：British Film Institute（BFI）"Statistical Yearbook"
Germany： Filmförderungsanstalt（FFA）"FFA Info"
Australia： Screen Australia "Fact Finders"
Korea：Korean Film Council 영화진흥위원회（KOFIC）”Korean Film Industry”
Japan：“Film Almanac 2019” “Statistics: Various Statistics of the Major Countries of the World” (Kinema Jumpo-sha)

As of the end of January 2021, the statistics of foreign countries have not been released online. Below is thecomparison of the statistics in Japan and other countries (the USA/Canada, France, the UK [United Kingdom],
Germany, Korea, and Australia). There was not much change between 2018 and 2019, and the below
description is often the same as the prior year’s.

Attendance
Before we compare the film exhibition environments, we have to take the fact into consideration that Japan’s
population has been decreasing unlike these other seven countries during the last 10 years. During theseyears, the USA/Canada, France, Korea, and the UK have each increased their population by about 5%, andAustralia has by 16%. In contrast, Japan has decreased its population annually and during the last 10 years
between 2011 and 2020, by about 1.5%.
In 2019, attendance in the USA and Canada together was the largest, followed by the attendance of Korea,France, the UK, Japan, Germany, and Australia in this order. During the last 10 years, Korea, which attendancein 2019 was increased largely from that in 2018, has increased its attendance by more than 50%. In 2019,Japan showed the largest attendance since 2000, and during the last 10 years, its increase was by 12%. The
increase/decrease in other 5 countries were all by less than 10%. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, theincrease of online streaming had not influenced the number of the people who went to see films at theaters.

Film Exhibition Yearbook｜2020

The number of films a person went to see annually (the attendance divided by the population) in Korea wasthe highest at 4.4 films. 3.4 films of the USA/Canada followed this, then, 3.3 films of France and Australia
each, 2.6 films of the UK, 1.5 films of Japan, and 1.4 films of Germany. Japan’s number of people who went tosee films at theaters was lower than others, and there is room for more audiences. In Japan, there are many
communities with no movies houses, and there are a considerable number of people who watch films at
public halls, etc., rather than at regular movie houses. If we take this into consideration, we realize that we do
not know the exact numbers.

fig.16 Comparison with Foreign Countries［Attendance from 2010 to 2019］

fig.17 Comparison with Foreign Countries［Number of Films A Person Went to See Annually from 2010 to 2019］

Numbers of Theaters and Screens
In all seven countries, the number of screens during the last 10 years increased. Korea’s number, in particular,increased by more than 50% and 1,000 screens, the UK’s increase was 22%, and both France and Australia
increased by more than 10%. It is presumed that the increase in multi-screen theaters is behind theseincreases, similar to the situation in Japan.

Film Exhibition Yearbook｜2020

The number of screens was highest in the USA, which was 41,172, more than 10 times of 3,627 in Japan.
When the population per screen (the population divided by the number of screen) is lower, it means that there
are more screens near you. The population per screen in Japan was 34,785, and this means that there weremuch fewer screens compared with those in other countries. The USA’s number of screens was the highest,
and the population per screen was 7,972. In France, the population per screen was 10,602. In all 6 countries
other than Japan, the population per screen was roughly between 10,000 and 20,000. In Japan, the number ofmovie houses was one forth of that in the USA, one third of that in France, and one half of that in Korea. The
low average number of films a person went to see annually in Japan was related to the low number of screens.

fig.18 Comparison with Foreign Countries [Number of Screens (2010-2019)]

fig.19 Comparison with Foreign Countries [Number of Theaters (2010-2019)]

fig.20 Comparison with Foreign Countries [Population per Screen (2019)]

fig.21 Comparison with Foreign Countries [Attendance per Screen (2010-2019)]

Film Exhibition Yearbook｜2020

Box Office Income [2018]
In 2018, the box office income in Japan was the third largest, coming after the USA/Canada and China. Thetheater ticket price in Japan was in average 1,315 yen (that in 2020 was 1,350 yen), relatively higher than thatof other countries, and this is the reason why box office income in Japan was high. On the other hand, thehigh admission is also considered to be the reason why the number of films a person went to see at theaters
has not increased. However, the average ticket price in Australia and the UK was each equal to more than
1,000 yen, while their average number of films a person went to see at theaters were: 3.3 films for Australia;
and 2.6 films for the UK, much higher than that of Japan.

Attendance and Box Office Income Per Screen
The number of the annual attendance per screen (the annual attendance divided by the number of screen)
was highest in Korea, which was 73,621, followed by Japan, which number was 53,739. Japan’s yearly box
office income per screen was about 63,030,000 yen, which was the highest among all of the 7 countries.
Compared with other countries, Japan’s number of screen was low while its theater admission was high,making the numbers of annual attendance per screen and the box office income high.
The numbers of the annual attendance per screen and the box office income per screen in each country wereboth lower than those of ten years ago, except in Japan. While the number of screens has increased, the sizeof the audience has not. During the last 10 years, in the UK, the number of screens increased by more than
20%, and the attendance per screen decreased by more than 6,000; and the number of screens in Australia
increased by 16%, and the attendance per screening decreased by close to 10,000. In 2019, the box officeincome was high in Japan and the attendance per screen increased by more than 20,000. The box officeincome per screen in the USA and Canada together was 28,550,000 yen; in France, it was 28,590,000 yen; inGermany, it was 26,610,000 yen; and these were less than half of that of Japan. The highest in all of Europe
and North America was the UK’s 43,180,000 yen.

fig.22 Comparison with Foreign Countries [Theater Admission and Box Office Income (2018)]

Film Exhibition Yearbook｜2020

The Ratio of Multi-Screen Theaters
The ratio of multi-screen theaters has consistently increased since 2011 in each country. The ratio of multiscreen theaters was highest in Korea with 93.7%, 2,885 screens out of Korea’s nationwide total of 3,079
screens. The total number of screens of other types theaters was constantly decreasing in Korea but began toincrease in 2014 and by more than 60 screens between 2015 and 2019. The number of these theaters
increased from 99 in 2018 to 106 in 2019. In Japan, other types of theaters increased by 14 screens and 5theaters from 2018 to 2019.
Multi-screen theaters have occupied a major place in each country. However, the number of these theaters inFrance and the UK are not so high compared with the numbers in the three other countries (the USA, Koreaand Japan). Particularly in France, the ratio of multi-screen theater was as low as 43.6%, and the number ofmulti-screen theaters was 232, while that of other types theaters was 1,814, much more than the former. (InFrance, the definition of a multi-screen theater is the one with 8 screens and more, while that of othercountries is the one with 5 screens and more. This difference affects France’s statistics.) In France, there
were 2,045 theaters, close to four times as many as the 593 theaters in Japan, making people feel that they areclose to diverse types of theaters even in middle- and small-sized cities, towns, and villages.

fig.23 Comparison with Foreign Countries [Ratio of Multi-screen Theaters and Their Number of Screens (2011〜2019)]

fig.24 Comparison with Foreign Countries [Ratio of Multi-Screen Theaters and Their Number of Theaters (2018-2019)]

Film Exhibition Yearbook｜2020

Number of Films ReleasedIn Japan and Korea, the numbers of films released in 2019 was each more than 1,000; particularly in Korea,
where as many as 1,740 films were released.
Only in France and Japan, the domestic film share was more than 50%. In Japan, from the late 1980s to theearly 2000s, many more foreign films were released than Japanese films. However, since 2008, more
Japanese films have been released than foreign films. During the last several years, the number of foreign
films released has been also increasing. In 2019, the ratio between Japanese and foreign films released
matched the ratio of their box office incomes at 54% vs. 46%. This proportion was well balanced comparedwith that of other countries. (In 2020, due to the spread of COVID-19, the releases of many Hollywood films
have been postponed, and its balance was drastically broken, making the ratio of the box office income ofJapanese and foreign films 76.3% vs. 23.7%.)

fig.25 Comparison with Foreign Countries [Number of Films Released (2011-2018)]

Long-Term Public Support of Movie Houses
When we compare the situation of the movie houses in Japan with that in foreign countries, various questions
come up. Why is the number of movie houses in Japan much smaller than that in foreign countries? How dothe movie houses in other countries survive while their attendance per screen is much smaller than that inJapan?

Film Exhibition Yearbook｜2020

In Europe, a movie house is not necessarily a commercial theater (like the ones in Japan running films 5-6times daily). Among the theaters in Germany included in the “Film Exhibition Activities Almanac 2016,” thereare theaters that close one day per week, and at some other theaters, when they are open, they run films only
2-3 times a day. Many run films only from Friday to Sunday operated by volunteer staff. In France, the UK, theUSA, and Korea, movie houses have diverse forms.
In every country outside of Japan, there are organizations administering the film industry and film culture(CNC in France, BFI in the UK, FFA in Germany, KOFIC in Korea, etc.), and they get involved with every spherein film including production, distribution, theater operation (exhibition), education and preservation. As for thefilm exhibition activities, their support systems cover a variety of levels and types of assistance including
screenings at big-scale commercial movie houses, multi-screen theaters, mini-theaters, cinematheques andindependent screening, together offering a highly diverse mix of films. In Europe, there is the support system
by Europa Cinema, a cultural organization under the EU.
Public support and promotional policies should cover more than mere financial support. The movie houses
receiving public supports are expected to present diverse activities including programming emphasizing theirrelationship with the community and other cultural organizations, development of the young audiences, andfilm educational projects. Programmers responsible for these projects are also nourished. It inspires theaters
and film exhibitors to increase their cultural profiles and sustainability in their communities.
In 2020, during the emergency situation caused by the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, the film
administration organizations like CNC, BFI, and KOFIC initiated policies protecting movie houses andexhibitors. First, they handled an urgent situation by paying their grant money earlier than was scheduled.
Next, they planned, enacted, and executed the support programs needed by movie houses and exhibitors inassociation with agencies and ministries corresponding to the Japanese Agency of Cultural Affairs andMinistry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the situation in Japan that there are no organizations or systems to support
the movie houses and public exhibitions like community cinemas. This caused a strong sense of anxiety andcrisis among people working in film and film fans. Projects such as “SAVE the CINEMA” and Mini-Theater Aid
Fund started as movements to protect mini-theaters. Recently, these projects have been shifting direction toprotect and promote film culture and establish organizations and systems beyond that of just the minitheaters. This has become one of the good legacies from the COVID-19 pandemic and we hope that theirgoals will be realized before long.