Prior to it closing in 1984, the Hibiya Theatre (日比谷映画劇場 Hibiya Eiga Gekijou) in Tokyo was where all the Bond movies were first shown in Japan as it was one of the few theatres in Japan dedicated to exhibiting foreign films from the US and Europe. After this initial run, the Bond films were then shown at the Marunouchi Toho, Shinjuku Theatre, and Shibuya Culture. The early films of course being hard-matted 1.66/1 for projection.
Sean Connery missed all of the premieres in Tokyo including the first Bond release in Japan: Dr No in June 1963. (It had been released in the UK eight months earlier in October 1962.)
The Japanese title was 007: The Killing Number, in Japanese 007は殺しの番号 created by the film’s translator, Takao Takase, who was in charge of the subtitles. The film did not garner great reviews and the film failed to enter the Top 10 in Japan.
The second film From Russia With Love [007危機一発] was released in Japan less than a year later in April 1964, and took a box office four times that of Dr No. The Bond phenomena was beginning to take off in Japan. (And not only Bond but this ignited interest in the western spy genre.)
Albert Broccoli and co-producer Kevin McClory came to the Thunderball’s premiere which took place on 9th December 1965. This in fact was the world premiere as it would not open in London and New York until later in the month. [日本では、当時としては珍しい全世界一斉公開と喧伝されて1965年12月11日から、東京はまず日比谷映画劇場でスタートし]
At one charity premiere in the 1970s (the exact one is not known) Princess Chichibu was invited to see the latest Bond film. Of course being part of the Royal Family, she led a somewhat sheltered existence, and no one had thought about the racy content that she might be exposed to. The British Ambassador Hugh Cotazzi was later to write, that she did in fact ‘stagger out of the cinema looking slightly overcome but as ever graciously expressed her delight at the ‘lovely picture.”
History
The Hibiya was located in Yuraku-cho, Chiyoda-ku, and was opened on 1st February 1934. The architect was Minishi Abe (1883-1965) and it was designed in a classic art deco style with 1375 seats – making it the smallest of the four cinemas on the nicknamed Hibiya Movie Street in the Yuraku-cho district. The Hibiya and two others were all owned by the Tokyo Takarazuka Theater Co (TT Co) also known as PCL, and run by Kobayashi Ichizo who, having made his money if not fortune in real estate, had turned to the entertainment industry.
During the 1930s, the Hibiya area became known as Tokyo’s principle centre of entertainment: Hibiya Public Hall was completed in 1929 and was the first and only music hall in Tokyo at that time; in 1934, the Tokyo Takarazuka Theatre and Hibiya Movie Theatre were opened as well as the other movie theatres. The reason for this was simple: here could be found a high concentration of office workers, and it was a district where families would come to at the weekend. Kobayashi was a shrewd businessman: he knew where to find the audience, and he also charged low prices to draw in the crowds.
When the Hibuya opened, the practice in Japan was to run two feature length films per programme, and usually the programme was changed weekly, rarely fortnightly and hardly at all for a longer period. The double bill when the theatre opened were two British films City of Song and Waltzes From Vienna, and a Mickey Mouse cartoon. Across the year over 70 films were shown including King Kong and from studios including UA, MGM, RKO, Paramount and Fox.
The method of admission would be called ‘continuous’ where patrons could be admitted during any part of the programme and continue to watch until they reached the point in the programme where they were first admitted. Programmes would start late morning and would finish at ten in the evening.
The aforementioned TT Co were the forerunners to the Toho Co. Ltd. Toho were formed in 1936, initially to distribute films but quickly went on to become one of the largest film companies in Japan, controlling everything from studios and production through to distribution. When You Only Live Twice was in production, Toho were Eon’s local partners, arranging casting, studio and location facilities.
ゼロゼロセブンはにどしぬ You Only Live Twice was released in Japan on 17 June 1967 and that year became the highest grossing foreign film.
Perhaps surprisingly foreign language popular films had been shown in Japan (or at least in the cities) since the turn of the 20th century. In the early days of the Hibuya over 343 films were imported for example in 1936, with 270 from the US and the rest from Europe. In the 1950s, they were less popular as Japanese films reached a peak in terms of production. However, the Bond franchise and other blockbusters in the 60s and 70s created the revival that has been a permanent feature of Japanese cinema going ever since. The theatre even showed Bridge On The River Kwai, though how this went down with the Japanese audience is unknown.
The cinema was demolished in 1984 as part of the usual and continuous redevelopment that takes place in Tokyo; the last Bond film to be shown there was Octopussy, which had premiered 2 July 1983. And the final film projected was Splash.
The building that replaced it has also gone, and in turn replaced by a major complex that includes some of the best cinema screens in Tokyo if not the world.
In 2012 Tohu cinemas held a ’50th Anniversary Screening Event of the 007 Series Production’ at their cinema in Roppongi Hills. That it was a year early is neither here nor there.
And unlike the early films, the launch of the latest Bond films are now (usually) major events: when Casino Royale was released Daniel Craig came to Japan for the national launch of the film on 1st December 2006 but in fact the film had already shown by Sony at a celebrity-only event ten days earlier; then it had launched the Tokyo International CineCity Festival on Thursday 23rd November at the Shinjuku Milano Theatre 1 before Craig watched it at the same cinema. Quantum of Solace was premiered at Toho Cinemas in Roppongi Hills; Skyfall at Toho Cinemas Nichigeki, and Spectre 007 スペクター was a more low key event for some reason at Yurakucho.
References
Cinema Year Book of Japan 1936-1937.
For more info on the Japanese showing of You Only Live Twice a book is available on Amazon with all the details. The Definitive Story of You Only Live Twice.
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Mid-Century Bond 
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