Toho Company Ltd.



Toho Company, Limited (東宝株式会社) is a large Japanese film studio. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. In the West, it is best known as the producer of many daikaiju (monster) and tokusatsu (special effects) movies, the Chouseishin tokusatsu superhero TV franchise, the films of Akira Kurosawa, and the anime films of Studio Ghibli. Its most famous and worldwide creation is Godzilla, known as the King of the Monsters. It has also been involved in the production of numerous anime titles. The name Toho literally translates as "eastern treasure" in English. Godzilla, Mothra, King Ghidorah, Mechagodzilla, and Rodan are described as being Toho's Big Five.

History
Toho was founded by the Hankyu Railway in 1932 as the Tokyo-Takarazuka Theater Company (東京宝塚劇場株式会社). It managed much of the kabuki in Tokyo and, among other properties, the Tokyo Takarazuka Theater and the Imperial Garden Theater in Tokyo; Toho and Shochiku enjoyed a duopoly over theaters in Tokyo for many years.

After several successful film exports to the United States during the 1950s, Toho opened the La Brea Theatre in Los Angeles to show its own films without selling to a distributor. It was known as the Toho Theatre from the late 1960s until the 1970s. Toho also had a theater in San Francisco and opened a theater in New York in 1963.

The Shintoho Company was so named "New Toho" because it broke off from Toho.

They have contributed to the production of some American films, including Sam Raimi's A Simple Plan.



1930s

 * Three Sisters with Maiden Hearts (1935)
 * Enoken's Ten Millions (1936)
 * ''Enoken's Ten Millions Sequel (1936)
 * Tokyo Rhapsody (1936)
 * A Husband Chastity (1937)
 * Tojuro's Love (1938)
 * Enoken's Shrewd Period (1939)
 * Chushingura I (1939)
 * Chushingura II (1939)

1940s

 * Song of Kunya (1940)
 * Enoken Has His Hair Cropped (1940)
 * Songoku: Monkey Sun (1940)
 * Uma (1941)

1950s

 * Ikiru (1952)
 * Seven Samurai (1954)
 * Godzilla (1954)
 * ''Toumei ningen (1954)
 * ''The Sound of the Mountain (1954)
 * Godzilla Raids Again (1955)
 * Sazae-san (1956)
 * Rodan (1956)
 * The Mysterians (1957)
 * Varan (1958)
 * The Hidden Fortress (1958)

1960s

 * Hawaii-Midway Battle of the Sea and Sky: Storm in the Pacific Ocean (1960)
 * The Last War (1961)
 * ''Mothra (1961)
 * ''Yojimbo (1961)
 * King Kong vs Godzilla (1962)
 * ''Sanjuro (1962)
 * Atragon (1963)
 * Matango (1964)
 * Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster(1964)
 * Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964)
 * Devil Woman (1964)
 * Invasion of the Astro Monster (1965)
 * Frankenstein Conquers the World (1965)
 * Punch Guy (1966)
 * Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966)
 * Son of Godzilla  (1967)
 * Destroy All Monsters (1968)
 * All Monsters Attack (1969)

1970s

 * Space Amoeba (1970)
 * Godzilla vs. Hedorah(1971)
 * Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972)
 * Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)
 * Submersion of Japan (1973)
 * Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)
 * Evil of Dracula (1974)
 * Lupin III (1974)
 * Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)
 * Demon Spies (1975)
 * The War in Space (1977)
 * Zero Fighter (1976)

1980s

 * Doraemon and sequels (1980)
 * The Return of Godzilla (1984)
 * Kimagure Orange Road: Ano Hi Ni Kaeritai (1988)
 * My Neighbor Totoro (1988, coproduction with Studio Ghibli)
 * Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989)

1990s

 * Devil Hunter Yohko (1990)
 * Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991)
 * Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)
 * Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993)
 * Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994)
 * Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995)
 * Ring (film) (1998)
 * Godzilla 2000: Millennium (1999)

2000s

 * Metropolis (2001)
 * Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2001)
 * Spirited Away (2001), coproduction with Studio Ghibli)
 * Inuyasha movies (2001-2004), co-productions with Sunrise
 * Hamtaro Movie 1: Hamu Hamu Rando Daibouken/Adventures in Ham-Ham Land (2001) (distributor)
 * Hamtaro Movie 2: Hamu Hamu Hamu Maboroshi no Purincess/Princess of Vision (2002) (distributor)
 * ''Beyblade Movie (爆転シュートベイブレード THE MOVIE 激闘!!タカオVS大地 - Bakuten Shoot Beyblade The Movie: Gekitou!! Takao vs Daichi) (2002) (Producer)
 * Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2002)
 * Hamtaro Movie 3: Hamu Hamu Guran Purin/Ham-Ham Grand Prix (2003) (distributor)
 * Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (2003)
 * Godzilla, Mothra, Mechagodzilla: Tokyo S.O.S (2003)
 * Howl's Moving Castle (2004), coproduction with Studio Ghibli)
 * Naruto the Movie (2004)
 * Godzilla: Final Wars (2004)
 * Steamboy (2004)
 * Hamtaro Movie 4: Hamutaro to Fushigi no Oni no Ehon Tou/Hamtaro and the Mysterious Ogre's Picture Book Tower (2004) (distributor)
 * Lolerei (2005)
 * Densha Otoko (2005)
 * NANA (2005)
 * Bleach: Memories of Nobody (2006)
 * NANA2 (2006)
 * Dōbutsu no Mori (2006), co-production with O.L.M., Nintendo, and Shogakukan

Tokusatsu

 * Warrior Of Love: Rainbowman (1972)
 * Meteor Man Zone (1973)
 * Warrior Of Light: Diamond Eye (1973)
 * Flying Saucer War Bankid (1976)
 * Megaloman (1979)
 * Eletronic Brain Police Cybercop (1989)
 * Belle & Sebastian (1989)
 * Seven Stars Fighting God Guyferd (1996)
 * Godzilla Island (1997)
 * Chouseishin Gransazer (2003)
 * Genseishin Justirisers (2004)
 * Chousei Kantai Sazer-X (2005)

TV Anime

 * Touch (1985)
 * Midori Days (co-production) (2004)

In more recent years and for a period, they have produced video games. One of their first video games was the 1990 NES game titled Circus Caper. Later, they followed with a series of games based on Godzilla. They also published games such as Super Aleste.