Toei Company
Toei Company, Ltd. (東映株式会社, Tōei kabushiki gaisha) (/toʊ.eɪ/) (sometimes styled as TOEI) is a Japanese film, television production, and distribution and video game developer and publishing company. Based in Tokyo, Toei owns and operates 34 movie theaters across Japan (all but two of them operated by its subsidiary, T-Joy), studios at Tokyo and Kyoto; and is a shareholder in several television companies. It is notable for creating animated programming known as anime, and live action dramas known as tokusatsu which use special visual effects. It also creates historical dramas (jidaigeki). Outside Japan, it is known as the controlling shareholder of Toei Animation and the owner of the Kamen Rider and Super Sentai franchises.
The Toei Kaikan building in Ginza houses the headquarters of Toei as well as the Marunouchi Toei multiplex | |
Native name | 東映株式会社 |
|---|---|
Romanized name | Tōei kabushiki gaisha |
| Type | Public KK |
| TYO: 9605 | |
| Industry | Film and television Video games |
| Founded | June 8, 1938 (as Toyoko Eiga) October 1, 1949 (as Tokyo Film Distribution, a subdsidiary of Tokyu and Toyoko Eiga) April 1, 1951 (as Toei Company) |
| Founder | Keita Goto |
| Headquarters | 2-17 Ginza 3-chome, , Japan |
Area served | Worldwide, with a focus in Japan |
Key people | Fumio Yoshimura (President & CEO) Noriyuki Tada (Chairman) |
| Products | Motion pictures, publicity materials |
| Services | Film and TV distribution and marketing |
| Revenue | ¥ 66,300,000,000 (As of March 2006) |
| Owner | As per March 31, 2016: The Asahi Shimbun (largest shareholder, through TV Asahi Holdings, which owns 11.3%) Public Investment Fund (6.03%) TBS Television (5.69%) JTSB investment trusts (5.69%) Bandai Namco Holdings (4.82%) Tokyu Corporation (4.06%) Fuji Media Holdings/Fujisankei Communications Group (3.87%) Nippon TV (3.25%) |
Number of employees | 343 (As of March 1, 2019) |
| Subsidiaries | Toei Lab Tech Toei International Toei Digital Lab Toei Animation (41%) TAVAC Toei TV Production Toei Video Toei Satellite TV Cinema Plus Toei Advertising Toei CM San-Ei Printing Toei Music Publishing Toei Studios Kyoto Toei Kenko Toei Foods Tes-Service Toei Golf Club K.K.Central Arts T-Joy (operates Toei's cinema undertakings except in Ginza and Shibuya) Amazon Laterna Coyote Inc. |
| Website | www |
| Footnotes / references [1][2] | |
Toei is one of the four members of the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan (MPPAJ), and is therefore one of Japan's Big Four film studios.
The name "Toei" is derived from the company's former name "Tōkyō Eiga Haikyū" (東京映画配給, Tokyo Film Distribution Company).
History
Toei's predecessor, the Toyoko Eiga Company, Ltd. (東横映画, Tō-Yoko Eiga, "Toyoko Films"), was incorporated in 1938. It was founded by Keita Goto, CEO of Tokyo-Yokohama Electric Railway, the direct predecessor to the Tokyu Corporation. It had erected its facilities immediately east of the Tōkyū Tōyoko Line; they managed the prewar Tōkyū Shibuya Yokohama studio system. From 1945 through the Toei merger, Tokyo-Yokohama Films leased from the Daiei Motion Picture Company a second studio in Kyoto.
On October 1, 1950, the Tokyo Film Distribution Company was incorporated as a subsidiary of Toyoko Eiga; in 1951 the company purchased Ōizumi Films. The current iteration of Toei was established on April 1, 1951. Through the merger, they gained the combined talents and experience of actors Chiezō Kataoka, Utaemon Ichikawa, Ryunosuke Tsukigata, Ryūtarō Ōtomo, Kinnosuke Nakamura, Chiyonosuke Azuma, Shirunosuke Toshin, Hashizo Okawa, and Satomi Oka.
In 1955, they purchased the Kyoto studio from Daiei.[3] In 1956, Toei established an animation division, Toei Animation Company, Limited at the former Tokyo-Ōizumi animation studio, purchasing the assets of Japan Animated Films (日本動画映画, Nihon Dōga Eiga, often shortened to 日動映画 (Nichidō Eiga)), founded in 1948. Toei was a pioneer in the use of "Henshin"/"character transformation" in live-action martial-arts dramas, a technique developed for the Kamen Rider, Metal Hero and Super Sentai series; the genre currently continues with Kamen Rider and Super Sentai.
In September 1964, Toei leaves the Tokyu Corporation.[3]
In 1972, Toei started to distribute foreign films in Japan.[3]
In 1975, they opened a theme park at Kyoto Studio, the Toei Kyoto Studio Park.[3]
Toei films
Toei started producing films in 1953. This list compiles the films by their original release date, their common English titles and Japanese titles. The Japanese titles are not necessarily direct translations of their English counterparts.
For feature films, Toei established itself as a producer of B-movies, that were made to fit into double bills and triple bills.[4][5] It is predominantly known in the west for its series of action films and television series.[5]
| Release date | English film title | Original title | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1954 | Weak-kneed from Fear of Ghost-Cat | Kaibyo koshinuke daisodo | [6] | |
| 1956 | The Phantom Cat | Kaibyo Ranbu [7] | [8] | |
| 1956 | The Swamp | Kaidan Chidoriga-fuchi | [9] | |
| 1957 | Ghost Story of Broken Dishes at Bancho Mansion | Kaidan Bancho sara yashiki | [10] | |
| 1958 | Ghost-Cat of Karakuri Tenjo | Kaibyo Karakuri Tenjo | [6] | |
| March 19, 1959 | Planet Prince | Yusei oji | Chapter 1 | [11] |
| May 26, 1959 | Planet Prince - The Terrifying Spaceship | Yūsei Ōji - Kyōfu no Uchūsen | Chapter 2 (both chapters edited into a 1962 feature version called Prince of Space) | [11] |
| 1959 | Ghost from the Pond | Kaidan hitotsu-me Jizo | [12] | |
| October 19, 1959 | The Final War | Daisanji sekai taisen - yonju-ichi jikan no kyofu | A New Toei Co, Ltd. Production; released in U.S. in 1962 | [13] |
| 1960 | Alakazam the Great | Saiyu-ki | A Toei Animation Co, Ltd. Production | [14] |
| July 19, 1961 | Invasion of the Neptune Men | Uchu kaizoku-sen | Starred Sonny Chiba as Space Chief | [15] |
| 1961 | Ghost of Oiwa | Kaidan Oiwa no Borei | [16] | |
| 1962 | Ghost Music of Shamisen | Kaidan shamisen-bori | [16][17] | |
| 1964 | Jakoman and Tetsu | Jakoman to Tetsu | [18] | |
| 1965 | House of Terrors | Kaidan semushi otoko (Ghost of the Hunchback[19]) | [20] | |
| 1965 | Ghost of the One-Eyed Man | Kaidan katame no otoko | [21] | |
| 1966 | The Magic Serpent | Kai tatsu daikessen | [22] | |
| 1967 | Yongary, Monster from the Deep | Dai koesu Yongkari | South Korean/Japanese co-production | [23][24] |
| December 1, 1968 | The Green Slime | Gamma sango uchu dai sakusen | U.S./ Japanese co-production | [25][26] |
| 1968 | Fear of the Snake Woman | Kaidan hebionna | [12] | |
| August 13, 1969 | Killer's Mission | Shokin kasegi | [27] | |
| 1969 | Horrors of Malformed Men | Kyofu kikei ningen | [28] | |
| 1970 | Voyage Into Space | Giant Robo (Johnny Sokko and his Flying Robot)[29] | Episodes of the Japanese TV series re-edited into a TV movie for U.S. release | [30] |
| May 23, 1970 | A Kamikaze Cop | Yakuza deka | [17] | |
| October 17, 1970 | Kamikaze Cop, Marihuana Syndicate | Yakuza deka, Marihuana mitsubai soshiki | [17] | |
| 1970 | Venus Flytrap (film) | Revenge of Dr. X (U.S. video title) | Based on a 1950s unproduced screenplay by Ed Wood (uncredited) | [31] |
| August 25, 1972 | Female Prisoner 701: Scorpion | [32][33] | ||
| December 30, 1972 | Female Convict Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 | [34][33] | ||
| July 29, 1973 | Female Convict Scorpion: Beast Stable | [35][33] | ||
| 1974 | The Street Fighter | Gekitotsu Satsujinken | starred Sonny Chiba; spawned 2 sequels, Return of the Street Fighter and Street Fighter's Last Revenge | [31] |
| April 29, 1977 | Legend of Dinosaurs & Monster Birds | Kyoryu-kaicho no densetsu | [36][37] | |
| April 29, 1978 | Message from Space | Uchu kara no messeji | Starred Sonny Chiba and Vic Morrow | [38][39] |
| 1979 | The Inferno | Jigoku | [40] | |
| January 30, 1981 | Time Slip (a.k.a. G.I. Samurai[41]) | Sengoku jieitai | starred Sonny Chiba | [42] |
| October 13, 1990 | The Pale Head | Shiroi te | A Kansai Telecasting Corp/Toei-Tokyo Production | [43][44] |
| 2001 | The Firefly | Hotaru | Toei 50th Anniversary film | [45] |
| 2012 | A Chorus of Angels | Kita no Canaria tachi | Toei 60th Anniversary films | [45] |
| 2012 | Hayabusa: Harukanaru Kikan | Toei 60th Anniversary films | [45] | |
| September 3, 2013 | Space Pirate Captain Harlock | a.k.a. Harlock: Space Pirate | Toei Animation Production | [46] |
| December 5, 2015 | 125 Years Memory | Kainan 1890 | Co-produced by Toei, Creators' Union, Böcek Yapım | [47] |
| May 17, 2019 | First Love | Hatsukoi | [48][49] | |
| June 25, 2021 | The Goldfish | Umibe no Kingyō | [50] | |
| 2023 | The Legend and Butterfly | Toei 70th Anniversary film | [45] |
Toei animation films
Toei produced/distributed shows
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 1971–present | Kamen Rider franchise |
| 1975–present | Super Sentai franchise |
| 1982–present | Metal Hero franchise |
| 1993–present | Power Rangers franchise |
| 1994–1996 | VR Troopers |
| 1995–1996 | Masked Rider |
| 1996–1998 | Big Bad Beetleborgs (later Beetleborgs Metallix) |
| 2008–2009 | Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight |
| 2023–present | Voltes V: Legacy |
Video games
- Ninja Hayate (1984)
- Time Gal (1985)
- The Masked Rider: Kamen Rider ZO (1994)
- Chameleon Twist (1997)
- Chameleon Twist 2 (1998)
Saburo Yatsude
Saburō Yatsude (八手 三郎, Yatsude Saburō, alternatively read as Saburo Hatte) is a collective pseudonym used by Toei Company television producers, and formerly Toei Animation producers, when contributing to their various anime and tokusatsu series; similar to Sunrise's Hajime Yatate. The use of the pen name began with The Kagestar and has been used throughout the Super Sentai (in the adapted Power Rangers series starting with Ninja Storm, the credits list Saburo Hatte. Before this, the credits listed "Original Concepts by Saburo Yatsude") and Metal Hero Series as well as for Spider-Man, Choukou Senshi Changéríon, Video Warrior Laserion, Chōdenji Robo Combattler V, Chōdenji Machine Voltes V, Tōshō Daimos, Daltanius, Space Emperor God Sigma, Beast King GoLion and Kikou Kantai Dairugger XV. The name is also used as a contributor to the soundtracks for the series.
Toei Animation stopped using Saburo Yatsude in 1999, and they began to use Izumi Todo instead. The first anime that was created by Izumi Todo was Ojamajo Doremi.
In the Unofficial Sentai Akibaranger series, Saburo Hatte is an actual person who is godlike within the fictional reality that the show takes place in. In fact, his hand appears at the end of the first half of the series to cover the camera lens and end the show, later having the second half be made under Malseena's influence while in the hospital in the real world.
In the Doubutsu Sentai Zyuohger spinoff, Super Animal War's third episode, he is portrayed by Jun Hikasa.
On April 3, 2016, an unknown Toei staff member going by Saburo Yatsude was interviewed while wearing a "Giraffe Zyuman" mask in reference to Zyuohger.[51]
Original creator
Live action
- The Kagestar (1976-1977)
- Ninja Captor (1976-1977)
- Spider-Man (1978-1979)
- Super Sentai (1979–present)
- Metal Hero Series (1982-1999)
- Choukou Senshi Changéríon (1996)
- Unofficial Sentai Akibaranger (2012-2013)
Anime
- Robot Romance Trilogy (1976-1979)
- Future Robot Daltanious (1979-1980)
- Space Emperor God Sigma (1980-1981)
- Beast King GoLion (1981-1982)
- Armored Fleet Dairugger XV (1982-1983)
- Lightspeed Electroid Albegas (1983-1984)
- Video Warrior Laserion (1984-1985)
Script
Television
- Sore Kara no Musashi (1964-1965)
- Mito Kōmon (1964-1965)
- Tensou Sentai Goseiger (2010)
- Kikai Sentai Zenkaiger (2021)
- Avataro Sentai Donbrothers (2022)
Web series
- From Episode of Stinger - Uchu Sentai Kyuranger: High School Wars (2017)
- Kikai Sentai Zenkaiger Spin-Off: Zenkai Red Great Introduction! (2021)
- Avataro Sentai Donbrothers Meets Kamen Rider Den-O: Aim! Don-O (2022)
Director
- Nebula Mask Machineman (1984)
See also
References
Footnotes
- ^ "会社概要".
- ^ "TOEI GROUP" (in Japanese). toei.co.jp. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
- ^ a b c d Osaki, Tad (December 17, 2001). "Toei through the ages". Variety (Toei at 50 ed.). p. A2.
- ^ Galbraith IV 1996, p. 88.
- ^ a b Galbraith IV 1996, p. 89.
- ^ a b Galbraith IV 1996, p. 241.
- ^ "KAIBYO RANBU (1956) de Masamitsu Igayama, Cinefania".
- ^ Galbraith IV 1996, p. 320.
- ^ Galbraith IV 1996, p. 378.
- ^ Galbraith IV 1996, p. 242.
- ^ a b Galbraith IV 1996, p. 325.
- ^ a b Galbraith IV 1996, p. 243.
- ^ Galbraith IV 1996, p. 166.
- ^ Galbraith IV 1996, p. 99.
- ^ Galbraith IV 1996, p. 233.
- ^ a b Galbraith IV 1996, p. 244.
- ^ a b c Galbraith IV 1996, p. 245.
- ^ Galbraith IV 2008, p. 72.
- ^ https://www.google.com/search?q=Kaidan+semushi+otoko+translate&oq=Kaidan+semushi+otoko+translate&aqs=chrome..69i57j33i160l2.4201j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8[bare URL]
- ^ Galbraith IV 1996, p. 220.
- ^ Galbraith IV 1996, p. 182.
- ^ Galbraith IV 1996, p. 275.
- ^ Galbraith IV 1996, p. 448.
- ^ Galbraith IV 1996, p. 449.
- ^ Galbraith IV 1996, p. 202.
- ^ Galbraith IV 1996, p. 203.
- ^ Galbraith IV 1996, p. 247.
- ^ Galbraith IV 1996, p. 218.
- ^ Woolery, George W. (1985). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981, Part II: Live, Film, and Tape Series. The Scarecrow Press. pp. 251–252. ISBN 0-8108-1651-2.
- ^ Galbraith IV 1996, p. 431.
- ^ a b Galbraith IV 1996, p. 373.
- ^ Female Prisoner Scorpion: The Complete Collection (book). Arrow Video. 2016. p. 5. FCD1338/AV060.
- ^ a b c Sharp 2011, p. 120.
- ^ Female Prisoner Scorpion: The Complete Collection (book). Arrow Video. 2016. p. 7. FCD1338/AV060.
- ^ Female Prisoner Scorpion: The Complete Collection (book). Arrow Video. 2016. p. 9. FCD1338/AV060.
- ^ Galbraith IV 1996, p. 261.
- ^ Galbraith IV 1996, p. 262.
- ^ Galbraith IV 1996, p. 285.
- ^ Galbraith IV 1996, p. 286.
- ^ Galbraith IV 1996, p. 236.
- ^ "It's Ninjas Vs. Helicopters in Sonny Chiba's G.I. Samurai". August 30, 2008.
- ^ Galbraith IV 1996, p. 396.
- ^ Galbraith IV 2008, p. 373.
- ^ Galbraith IV 2008, p. 374.
- ^ a b c d "木村拓哉×綾瀬はるか×大友啓史監督 激動の時代を生き抜いた夫婦を描く 映画『THE LEGEND & BUTTERFLY』公開決定". otocoto. Retrieved June 23, 2022.
- ^ Elley, Derek (September 7, 2013). . Film Business Asia. Archived from the original on December 2, 2013. Retrieved November 11, 2019.
- ^ "125 Years Memory",http://www.125yearsmemory.com. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
- ^ Kiang, Jessica (May 30, 2019). "Film Review: 'First Love'". Variety. Retrieved November 11, 2019.
- ^ "'First Love' ('Hatsukoi'): Film Review | Cannes 2019". The Hollywood Reporter. May 17, 2019. Retrieved November 11, 2019.
- ^ The Goldfish: Dreaming of the Sea (2021) - IMDb, retrieved August 29, 2021
- ^ "Animal Sentai Zyuohger".
Sources
- Galbraith IV, Stuart (1996). The Japanese Filmography: 1900 through 1994. McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0032-3.
- Galbraith IV, Stuart (2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-1461673743. Retrieved October 29, 2013.
- Sharp, Jasper (2011). Historical Dictionary of Japanese Cinema. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0810875418.
External links
- Toei webpage
- Toei's official YouTube's channel on YouTube
- Toei's official YouTube films's channel on YouTube
- Toei's official PR account on Twitter
- Toei's official films account on Twitter
- at the Wayback Machine (archived April 18, 2009) - a Hollywood Reporter article detailing Toei's receiving MIPTV's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006