早稲田松竹, Cinema venue in Takadanobaba, Shinjuku, Japan.
Waseda Shochiku is a movie theater in the Takadanobaba area of Shinjuku, Tokyo, known for pairing two films together in a single session. The screening room is small, with a straightforward layout that keeps the focus entirely on the films.
Waseda Shochiku opened on 21 December 1951 as a Shochiku first-run theater on Waseda-dori. In 1975 it switched to double bills of older films at a flat 300-yen admission and drew heavily on Waseda University students. After closing on 1 April 2002, a student-led revival project helped it reopen, first in December 2002 and fully on 25 January 2003.
Waseda Shochiku sits near Waseda University, and the student crowd nearby shapes the kind of films shown and the feel of the audience. Regular visitors often know the program well in advance and treat the cinema as a neighborhood gathering point.
The theater is within walking distance of Takadanobaba station and easy to find on foot. Because the program changes often and the venue is small, checking what is on before you go and arriving a little early is a good idea.
The cinema's operator, Shochiku Eiga Gekijo Co., has no capital ties to the Shochiku group today, despite the name. It also owns the building housing the Seibu Shibuya store's A and parking wings, the former Shibuya Shochiku site, making property leasing a major part of its business.
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