Doshin Hall, building in Chuo-ku, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan
Doshin Hall is a multi-purpose venue in Chuo-ku that holds approximately 700 people and accommodates concerts, performances, and community events. The flexible interior design allows organizers to adapt the space for different types of activities, with good sightlines and functional acoustics throughout.
Doshin Hall opened in September 1963 on the 8th and 9th floors of the Doshin Building Odori-kan, inaugurated with a performance of Bando Mitsunosuke's "Shitadashi Sanbaso" that October. Initially limited to lectures and academic meetings, it soon opened to theatre, music, film, dance, rakugo and local recitals. It closed on 30 June 2024 with a Tachikawa Danshun solo performance, after roughly 12,000 performances.
The hall's name comes from its owner, the Hokkaido Shimbun newspaper, whose head office building housed it on the 8th and 9th floors. Local theatre companies such as Aoi no Kai, TEAM-NACS and Gekidan Inada-gumi performed here, and the venue became known for the story of an early Off Course concert attended by only 13 people.
The hall occupied the 8th and 9th floors of the Doshin Building Odori-kan at Odori Nishi 3-chome in Chuo-ku, so visitors reached it by elevator rather than from street level. It was managed by Doshin Access, a company affiliated with the Hokkaido Shimbun. The hall closed on 30 June 2024, so it can no longer be visited.
On 10 January 1974, the then little-known band Off Course played here to an audience of 13: eight staff and five members of the public. One of those five, Masashi Ohara, later a professor emeritus at Hokkaido University, chose the hall as the venue for his final lecture.
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