Credit: ©2004 東宝／TBS／博報堂／小学館／S・D・P

Having dutifully served Tokyo filmgoers since its opening in 1956, Koma Toho is bidding farewell on New Year’s Eve. As a tribute, special screenings of films spanning the theater’s history will take place December 20-31.

“We let the people choose,” explains Shiroaki Omata, a manager within the theater section of Toho Cinemas, of the selection of films. “Fans of every age group and gender and our staff all participated.”

Highlights from the early years include director Akira Kurosawa’s Sanjuro, the 1962 samurai classic starring Toshiro Mifune as a swordsman battling corruption, and Yukiguni (Snow Country), a drama from 1957 featuring an artist, a geisha and broken promises.

Among the more recent titles are Eki, a 1981 adaptation of an Ed McBain novel that follows a detective on the trail of a Tokyo murderer, and the closing film Always: Sunset on Third Street, a 2005 box office hit that profiles disparate characters struggling in the immediate postwar era.

Ticket prices are at a throwback price of ¥500. “This is a special deal to show appreciation to our customers,” Omata says.

Koma Toho is located in the basement of the Shinjuku Koma Theater at 1-19-1 Kabukicho. Tel. 03-3202-8100.