Last year, Japan's total box office hit a total of 261.18 billion yen, becoming the highest overall box office in 1980 after the price of movie tickets rose to an average of 1,000 yen, and the total number of admissions also hit a new high in 47 years, reaching 191 million.
At a time when the film industry is booming, Japanese popular cinemas are still attracting a new batch of "good film youth" and becoming an entertainment space they are willing to visit.
However, good times are not common, and this year is affected by the new crown virus, and this record is bound to end here.
The tragic situation in the Japanese film and television circle, from the death of Ken Shimura to the diagnosis of Miyato Kankuro, began to enter a white-hot situation, and more and more people jumped out to accuse the Japanese government of not knowing how many meetings were held, but only had to "issue two cloth masks in one generation", which is comparable to the slow half-beat and dead-brained decision-making thinking in "New Godzilla".
Here, before discussing this issue, let's first sort out the epidemic impact table of the Japanese film and television industry:
The timing shifts back to February 27, when the well-known Japanese animated film remake "Cute Tiger Island" was released a week before its release, and the first shot of the postponed release was urgently fired.
At the beginning of March, the multi-purpose cinemas in Okinawa Prefecture announced that the AEON Cinema, which has the largest number of halls in the country, would be closed for one week, and the 109 Cinemas would be closed for one week, and the stage greeting venues for the arrival of actors would be cancelled one by one;
On March 25, "Theater", starring Kento Yamazaki, became the second film without audience premieres, and on the same day, Japanese comedy master Ken Shimura was diagnosed with new crown infection and resigned from Shochiku's 100th anniversary movie;
On the 26th, after the governor of Tokyo wanted people to go out on the weekend, the large cinemas TOHO and Shochiku also announced that some theaters in Tokyo would be closed for the weekend.
Ken Shimura became the first well-known artist to die of COVID-19.
With this as a boundary, the Japanese film and television circle has officially entered a period of martial law with full panic: Japan's six major television stations have fully announced the suspension of filming and postponement of broadcasting; many Japanese films have also decided to withdraw from the April and May schedules; and "The King of the World", which sold 5.6 billion yen last year, has also been in a dilemma because the filming location is not in the mainland, and the filming progress of preparing to enter the scene in June has also fallen into a dilemma.
On April 7, the government officially issued an "emergency declaration" in which the local governors of the seven prefectures, including Tokyo, have the right to ask residents to avoid unnecessary outings, which is not legally mandatory, but it also means that 40% of the country's cinemas will face more severe business self-censorship.
Some scholars said that "this month alone is bound to lose at least 10 billion yen or more at the box office revenue." ”
In April, the Japanese people were panicked, and the Japanese film industry was on full alert, but this tough battle could not be won no matter who was sent.
In the first week of the Japanese box office in April, although there were "Birds of Prey: The Great Liberation of the Clown Girl" and Suzu Hirose's "Girl near the North", but compared with the same period last year, the box office has been 90% lower, and the weekend box office performance is almost the same as usual.
In the face of hollywood's tragic situation of global withdrawal, Japan's well-known TOHO chain studios are also facing a state of no film to play, and instead show classic movies such as "Mad Max", "Roman Holiday" and "E.T" to fill the schedule.
In addition, TOHO Cinemas, which has 695 rooms in Japan alone, has seen its box office drop to 2.6 billion yen in March from 6.3 billion yen last year. The congratulatory scene celebrating Japan's new box office a few months ago is still vivid, and now it has long been empty, even if the follow-up epidemic stabilizes, the test for the Japanese film market is definitely not just waiting for the epidemic to pass.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-center-line" > the global film withdrawal, Japan's future schedule is bound to be stuck</h1>
Since 2013, at least 1,100 films have been released in Japan every year, and according to incomplete statistics, the number of films released in Japan last year has reached 1278, which is an oversupply situation, making it difficult for Japan to be released at the same time as Hollywood.
In particular, the number of large-scale screening halls for Hollywood blockbusters jumps from about 500, and distributors must ensure that the schedule and the number of screening halls are sufficient, even if it is not easy to release publicly a day earlier, which is why Hollywood movies often have to wait for months to come to Japan.
When a number of Hollywood movies announced the postponement of release, only "007: No Time to Die" was decisively postponed from April 10 to November 20, while the live-action movies "Sonic Kid" and "1/2 magic" originally scheduled for March have not yet announced the release schedule, not to mention that Japan will spend the first time in 23 years without the "Detective Conan Theater Edition" in April.
In addition, as the 50th anniversary of Doraemon, "Doraemon: Nobita's New Dinosaur", which was postponed on the eve of the release, the overwhelming publicity effect in the early stage was also completely destroyed, although it was tentatively postponed to the August summer vacation file, but it also led to the postponement of "Doraemon: Walk with Me 2" originally scheduled for the summer of the same year.
It is a small thing to see the new work later, and it is a big thing that a large piece of traffic jam causes a small piece to be excluded.
For large-scale films, there is still a cost to rank into the next hot slot, but in the face of independent, non-mainstream films, it is a nightmare that does not know where the future is.
In particular, Japan's featured series of films are almost impossible to postpone to a year later, such as "Detective Conan: Fist of Cyanosis", which last year set a record for the highest box office of 9.37 billion yen in the previous series and attracted more than 7.16 million viewers, and the delay in release will definitely be compressed into other small films or films in the second half of the year.
In the case of large traffic jams, the competitors of unpopular or art films are bound to become more, and the future is likely to face the crisis of shortening the schedule or even being withdrawn. For example, the independent film "She Dances in Dreams" that was postponed, director Hideyuki Shikawa said helplessly:
"Originally scheduled to be shown in 30 cinemas, all of them are now planned to be a blank sheet of paper. And more and more movies are postponed, and the competition for theater slots will be more intense, and I am worried that small films like ours will not be squeezed out. ”
With the expansion of the epidemic and the self-censorship of going out, the number of moviegoers has decreased significantly, and the film industry has entered a life-and-death juncture, and most cinemas can only respond passively in March: from strengthening disinfection, closing on weekends, refunding tickets for the unwell, canceling pre-sale tickets and restricting ticket purchases on the same day, shortening business hours, and refusing to allow students to enter during the suspension period.
Until April 7, when the relevant departments issued the "Emergency Declaration" for seven severely affected areas, including Tokyo and Osaka, although there was no legal compulsion to require cinemas to close, Toho Cinemas, which is owned by Toho, decisively announced the closure of about 30 cinemas with 170 halls in seven prefectures and cities that night.
Perhaps compared with other countries, Japanese cinemas that have not been ordered by the government to close may not be the most miserable, but relatively speaking, the status quo is that the already relatively weak independent cinemas have become the objects of release and self-destruction.
In Japan, these independent cinemas, known as mini theaters in the early days and also known as the single-museum system, although they do not have the huge capital and scale of chain studios, they each release and release many independent and non-mainstream films at home and abroad with the taste and venue characteristics of broadcasting movies, and are the cradle for cultivating many cutting-edge directors.
In the face of the disadvantage of the living space being squeezed by large commercial chain theaters, independent cinemas still rely on the enthusiasm of audiences and operators for movies to survive until now, but the current overseas epidemic has made independent cinemas face an unprecedented crisis.
Iwanami Hall, known as the "founding father of independent cinemas", has a large audience of elderly people compared to other cinemas, so it announced the suspension of business at the end of February, becoming the first independent cinema in Japan to enter a long-term closure due to the epidemic.
After the Tokyo-led chain of movie theaters gradually entered a state of closure in February, as more and more movies announced the postponement, on March 30, Twitter posted an interview with nagoya independent cinemas, "Independent cinemas, what's wrong now?" "" began to be reprinted in large quantities, and the original small cry for help in the independent cinema was finally heard by the outside world.
As the only independent cinema in Nagoya, Cinema Skhole was founded in 1983 by the famous Japanese director Koji Wakamatsu, who independently released famous films such as "Crush on Peach Blossom Garden" and "Nanjing 1937", and has also produced well-known directors such as Kore-eda and Shinya Tsukamoto.
However, in an interview, deputy director Toshi Hirai admitted that the operation of the cinema was not optimistic.
"From January onwards, the audience showed signs of decreasing, and by March the young customer base had all but disappeared. Originally, it was thought that the postponement of mainstream animated films would only affect the chain of cinemas, which had nothing to do with us independent cinemas, but now the income on weekdays has been reduced by 30%, and even 40% on weekends, and there are only one or two people in a show. ”
Unlike large chain studios that can rely on catering sales as a source of income, there is also a huge system and sponsor support behind them, for independent cinemas, the box office is almost their only income, no audience, representing no money to pay water, electricity, rent, labor costs, and then greet them is the fate of closing the door.
In addition, Hirai Takashi also pointed out the hidden worries brought by the film market led by Tokyo for local theaters:
"Once cinemas in Tokyo are closed on weekends, it will affect cinemas across the country."
In the case of independent cinemas, movies are not released in Tokyo and Nagoya at the same time, usually one to two weeks apart, but once the cinemas in Tokyo are closed, even if the release date in Nagoya arrives, the movies cannot be released. Especially after entering April, the situation may be worse than we thought.
As Hirai predicted, as of April 13, 175 movie theaters in Japan have announced their closures, including all in Tokyo, and no new films will be released in Japan in April, starting April 10.
Although most theaters have not announced when they will reopen again, they are bound to wait until a month after the emergency declaration is lifted, and if they are pessimistic, even until mid-May, how many cinemas will open as scheduled?
< h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" > temporarily closed or permanently? </h1>
Even in World War II, Japanese cinemas never closed for a long time, and even Akira Kurosawa's "Sequel to Zi Sanshiro" at the end of the Pacific War was still released as scheduled.
After the war, the empty window closure period of the cinema lasted only 15 days later, "Izu Girls" and "The Story of the Groom Tagaku" were released immediately, and the cinema once again returned to the lives of the citizens. This year can be said to be the first time in the history of Japanese cinema.
After the end of the epidemic, it is one thing whether the crowd can return, but for independent cinemas that are not in good operating condition, they may face direct closure after closure.
Masayuki Yukimoto, curator of Nagoya, an independent cinema in Hamamatsu City, said helplessly, "Since April, we have screened six works a day, but the number of visitors on weekdays is still less than 20. Our monthly fixed costs such as store rent, personnel costs, utilities, etc. are about 2.6 million yen, but this does not include the cost of buying movies from distributors. Although we are now negotiating with the landlord to reduce rent, how much can we reduce it? Can I get government grants? I don't even know when I'll get it. ”
Originally, golden week at the end of April was the time of year when the audience was the largest, even surpassing the summer vacation and spring festival holidays. Considering that the audience has been decreasing since March, the income is not 1/12 less, but directly 1/3. Although in terms of epidemic prevention, it may be effective to prevent the expansion of infection, but cinemas are business after all.
Makoto Hojo, who is committed to promoting art and European cinema and actively participating in the production and distribution of independent films in Japan, pointed out that even if the epidemic eases, cinemas and distributors will face new problems in the future, the film industry is bound to regress, and it will be difficult to even shoot Japanese films after that. Especially in the face of the successive suspension of international film festivals, distributors have been unable to buy new films, and must solve the situation of how to arrange new works in the coming year.
< h1 class= "pgc-h-center-line" > can't make movie tickets, so they have to find a way to survive</h1>
Even with increased ventilation and disinfection, indoor spaces and crowding places are still worrying, and although there may only be one or two spectators per show, it is still difficult for the cinema to loudly ask everyone to enter the theater. In particular, independent cinemas, in the absence of any financial subsidies from the government and no way to do anything, had to launch major member recruitment programs to save themselves.
The Shimotakai tomo Cinema, which opened in 1950, has managed to raise 3.19 million yen through mass fundraising, although it still can't escape the fate of temporarily closing, and the number continues to rise.
From another point of view, Shimotaka Tomo is nothing more than turning the crisis into a turning point, turning fundraising into an investment: adding an annual membership instead of sponsorship, and additionally including a classic movie poster and two movie entertainment coupons with a validity period of one year, and also enjoying the discount of purchasing tickets at the membership price in the future.
This method can not only effectively survive the financial crisis temporarily through fundraising, but also ensure that future audiences can enter the theater again, while increasing the number of members of the cinema.
On the other hand, the Kyoto Deimachi Block, which also has a bookstore, movie screening, and coffee shop, has launched future tickets, which can be used as an advance payment for books and movie tickets later, and the slogan of "We will see each other in the future" has also successfully attracted attention and 6.04 million yen.
There are also cinemas that choose to sell homemade peripherals, such as T-Shirt, which is jointly designed by 13 independent cinemas in Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe, and the profit amount will be shared equally among the participating cinemas.
More and more independent cinemas are joining the ranks of member fundraising and sponsorship with special gifts, and some cinemas have chosen to continue the spirit of watching movies, such as UPLINK Independent Cinemas, which also participate in film distribution, and launched a 2980 yen "three-month unlimited viewing program".
The content includes more than 60 works by Lou Ye, Chilean directors Alexandra Yuduroski and Patrick Guzman, and it is difficult to see works by world-renowned directors in Japanese theaters.
More special is the documentary "Spirit/Zero", which was originally scheduled to be released on May 2.
Unlike Hollywood,which skips cinema screenings and directly puts the film on the streaming platform, director Kazuhiro Iwata will simultaneously release the work on the Internet and the cinema through temporary cinemas. Through online viewing, the audience can choose the cinema they want to stay in, and finally half of the 1,800 yen viewing fee will be used as the income of that cinema according to the 5:5 box office of the movie.
Whether it is a cinema, a distributor or a producer, they all want to get the same level of income as in the past. These filmmakers and fans can only continue to rack their brains and try to find a way to survive that can make the cinema last forever.
So when the government called on people to stay at home, the last straw that crushed the independent cinema was actually not subsidized in time.
According to PIA, Japan's largest ticketing website, as of March 23, Japan has lost at least 175 billion yen in movie premieres, concerts, performances, competitions, and other activities cancelled due to self-censorship. But the government has not reached any help while demanding that entertainment venues self-censor, and even has a negative attitude towards the relief of the entertainment industry?
Before the crisis is truly lifted, independent cinemas are likely to go straight out of the lights and walk into history.
Compared with other countries, Japan is not only slow to prevent the epidemic, but also seems to be allowing art and culture to fend for itself.
As a simple example, the Arts Council (ACE) assists art workers with £160 million, providing a monthly subsidy of up to £2,500 for businesses and 80% of employee salaries;
Germany has forced the suspension of activities and projects for small and medium-sized enterprises, self-employed people of 50 billion euros, and 10 billion euros for those affected by their personal livelihoods, and the subsidies can not be returned in the future;
French cinemas must pay the film development fund to implement a moratorium policy, and the government spends 20 billion euros to subsidize enterprises to take unpaid leave;
The Italian government subsidized the art, film and audiovisual industries by 130 million euros;
The American Cinema Association (NATO) will allocate $2.4 million in aid to unemploy about 150,000 film practitioners due to the closure of cinemas, in addition to independent cinemas and related units have also launched mass fundraising, hoping to urgently rescue domestic cinemas and practitioners;
South Korea will grant 20 domestic films, this year's film development fund exemption, and provide more than 400 short-term unemployed filmmakers with vocational training programs.
Although Japan can also be regarded as a cultural power, it can be seen from the cultural budget tables of various countries in 2015 that Japan, which only accounts for 0.11% of the total national budget, has no cultural and artistic rankings at all in other countries.
SOS from independent Japanese cinemas across the country is still ignored by the government, and no film-related groups or associations have come forward to speak out. Until the day before Abe officially issued an emergency declaration without legal mandatory and related subsidy measures, two directors, Koji Fukada and Ryusuke Hamaguchi, who had embarked on the Cannes Film Festival with "Standing in the Abyss" and "Night and Day", launched a joint plan to save independent cinemas as leaders.
Koji Fukada:
"The crisis caused by the new crown pneumonia has first affected independent cinemas without large-scale financial assistance, and even small-scale independent cinemas like family OEMs.
Compared to other countries, Cinemas in Japan have always received almost no cultural budget.
Originally, I firmly believed that it was precisely because of this turbulent season that the state should provide assistance, and we should uphold the public values of culture and art and continue to ask for government support. But now there is no time to wait.
In order not to extinguish the multiculturalism of cinema, please help independent cinemas survive this crisis. ”
The second phase, which begins on April 13, will open the independent cinema to connect the future and raise funds for the independent cinema masses to nurture a diverse film culture, with the goal of raising 100 million yen in 32 days.
Compared to other cinema fundraising activities, the fundraising is mainly based on "support", and the fundraising plan ranges from 3,000 yen to 5 million yen.
Replacing theater bonuses with future tickets may increase the burden on cinemas, and open online cinemas to provide more than 100 movie content viewing services.
After deducting the basic cost of work, it is expected that the amount of funds raised will be distributed equally to the 68 independent cinemas participating in the program, and the most direct financial assistance of 1.5 million yen each will be provided.
Instead of sitting and waiting for the "closure", waiting for government subsidies that do not know whether there is or not to get, and finally letting the independent cinemas that carry the history of the streets and movies embark on the end of the road to closing, it is imperative to help them survive the days without audiences.
To this day, no matter which country is receiving all kinds of bad news almost every day.
When Shinzo Abe still has leisure to drink tea and follow the trend of Hoshino's "Dance at Home", the independent cinema may not even be able to greet the next tomorrow. It is precisely because of the existence of independent cinemas that the original national personality of the exclusive Japanese people can receive the mainstream and Hollywood, Europe and the United States through them, and even become the stage for the development of Japanese emerging directors.
The Japanese Independent Cinema is like a tree, absorbing abundant soil as nutrients while also making the land more fertile, while creatures from other places nest on the branches, lay eggs, and attract people to cool under the tree. This initiative is not only to save the cinema, but also to prevent the future of Japanese cinema from becoming a barren place that cannot accommodate hundreds of rivers.
Why is that in an age of the Internet, we still need cinemas?
But it's like a picture book, and while it's easy to read everywhere, it doesn't mean we don't need an art museum.
I hope that domestic film companies can also learn from it.