Denkikan
First dedicated movie theater in Japan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Denkikan (電気館) was the first dedicated movie theater in Japan. Originally a hall built in Asakusa's Rokku theater district to present spectacles featuring electricity ("denki" in Japanese), it was converted into a movie theater in October 1903 by Yoshizawa Shōten, the most successful of the film companies at the time. Featuring benshi such as Saburo Somei,[1] it quickly became the symbol of the new phenomenon of the motion pictures and many cinemas around Japan were later created that borrowed the name "Denkikan."[2] It later became a Nikkatsu theater and then a Shochiku theater before finally closing in 1976. The vacant site was used as flea market until 1987 when a commercial and residential complex was constructed. A historically accurate model of the theater is currently on display at the Edo-Tokyo Museum in Tokyo. It is also cited in Kaizo Hayashi's film To Sleep so as to Dream.[3]
