Masaki Kobayashi
is a Japanese film, theater production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer and distributor of many "kaiju" and "tokusatsu" films, the Chouseishin "tokusatsu" superhero television franchise, the films of Akira Kurosawa, and the anime films of Studio Ghibli, TMS Entertainment and OLM, Inc. Other famous directors, including Yasujirō Ozu, Kenji Mizoguchi, Masaki Kobayashi, and Mikio Naruse, also directed films for Toho.