Toho Co., Ltd.

Background

Toho Co., Ltd. is a Japanese film, theater production, and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Yūrakuchō, Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. It was formed as Toho Eiga Co., Ltd. from the merger of P.C.L., Jenkins Osawa Studio , and Toho Eiga Haikyu of the Tokyo-Takarazuka Theater Company. In 1937, the documentary film department, Toho Bunka Eiga, was established. In 1943, it was merged with the Tokyo-Takarazuka Theater Company, forming Toho Co., Ltd. and renaming their production facilities as Toho Studios.

Outside Japan, it is best known as the producer and distributor of many kaiju and tokusatsu films, the Chouseishin tokusatsu superhero television franchise, the films of Akira Kurosawa, and the anime films of Studio Ghibli. Other famous directors, including Yasujirō Ozu, Kenji Mizoguchi, Masaki Kobayashi, and Mikio Naruse, also directed films for Toho. Toho's most famous creation is Godzilla, who features in 29 of the company's films. Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, King Ghidorah and Mechagodzilla are described as Toho's Big Five because of the monsters' numerous appearances in all three eras of the franchise, as well as spin-offs. Toho has also been involved in the production of numerous anime titles. Its subdivisions are Toho-Towa Distribution, Toho Pictures Incorporated, Toho International Company Limited, Toho E. B. Company Limited, and Toho Music Corporation & Toho Costume Company Limited. The company is the largest shareholder (7.96%) of Fuji Media Holdings Inc. Toho is a member of the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan (MPPAJ), and is one of Japan's Big Four film studios.

1st Logo (1937-1938)

Nickname: "Toho Emblem"

Logo: On a black background, the Toho emblem (a circle with the characters "東宝" inside reading from top to bottom, previously used in Toho Eiga Haikyu's logo) is seen in white. Below is the company name "東宝映画株式會社" in Japanese.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: TBA

Availability: Seen on Learn from Experience Part I.

Editor's Note: TBA

2nd Logo (1938)

Nickname: "Toho Emblem II"

Logo: On a black background, a small Toho emblem is seen, with Japanese text below.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: TBA

Availability: TBA

Editor's Note: TBA

3rd Logo (1938-1939)

Logo: The Toho emblem and company name in Japanese is seen inside a white frame. Three versions of this exist: one with a wooden background, one with a black background, and one with a sandpaper-like textured background.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: TBA

Availability: TBA

Editor's Note: TBA

4th Logo (1938)

Logo: On a light background, a large Toho emblem in black is seen. Over the emblem is the Japanese text.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: TBA

Availability: TBA

Editor's Note: TBA

5th Logo (1938)

Logo: On a textured white background with black patterns, the Toho emblem and company name is seen drawn on.

FX/SFX: None.

Music/Sounds: TBA

TBA

6th Logo (1938, 1944, 1946-1947)

Logo: On a dark textured background, we see the Toho emblem and company name, both seemingly three-dimensional and sporting a slight shadow.

TBA

7th Logo (1939)

Logo: Over a brick wall is the Toho emblem and the company name below. The inside of the Toho emblem is smooth.

8th Logo (1940)

Nickname: "Toho in Space"

Logo: On a space background, we see the giant Toho emblem, surrounded by a rotating ring that has the company name inscribed.

FX/SFX: The rotating ring.

9th Logo (1941-1942)

Logo: Over a rocky background with a light source on the bottom, we see the Toho emblem in white, floating above the screen. Then the company name in black tilts into view, casting a shadow in the front due to the light source being behind the text.

10th Logo (1942)

Logo: We see the Toho emblem and company name in a dark environment, barely visible. A light then illuminates the logo, casting a prominent shadow to the right.

11th Logo (1942)

TBA

13th Logo (1943)

Logo: Over a wall with cracks, a metallic Toho emblem is seen, along with the company name in white below.

14th Logo (1944)

Logo: On a sunburst background (which can be barely seen), a large model of the Toho emblem is seen suspended above ground. Below is a rotating model of a musical staff, with the company name inscribed.

15th Logo (1946)

Logo: We see the Toho emblem between two lit torches. The torches are placed over a platform which has the company name inscribed over it.

Variant: A still version of this exists, with the torches being a painting.

16th Logo (1947)

Logo: On a black background, we see the Toho emblem. We then zoom out from the emblem, revealing the company name below.

17th Logo (1947-1948)

Logo: On a black background, the Toho emblem is seen over a small area of glimmering lights. The company name is below.

18th Logo (1947-1948)

Logo: On a black background, the Toho emblem in white is seen, but thinner, with the company name below.

19th Logo (1948)

Logo: On a grey background, the Toho emblem is seen in white, with the company name below.

20th Logo (1948)

Logo: On a marble background, the Toho emblem is seen in white. The company name is below.

21 Logo (1949-1950)

Logo: We see a model of a town. The Toho emblem and company name, both three-dimensional, are seen suspended over it.

22nd Logo (1949, 1953)

Logo: Over a flower field, we see the Toho emblem zooming in. The arched company name enters from the right of the screen to below the emblem.

23rd Logo (1950)

Logo: On a cloud background, the Toho emblem in black is seen, with a banner displaying the company name below. Animated sun rays are seen behind the logo.

24th Logo (1952-1954)

Logo: On a black background with spinning lines and a shining center (like a sunburst), we see a large Toho emblem. The company name then wipes in below the emblem.

25th Logo (1953)

Logo: Similar to before, except the lines are aquamarine is shown over a sky background with some clouds below. The emblem and the company name (which are already there) is in orange.

26th Logo (1954-1965, 1985)

Logo: Similar to before, but the emblem is smaller and is shown on a dark blue space background with two versions, one with golden stripes with the various colors of the rainbow spectrum, and clear, light blue stripes with the colors of the rainbow spectrum more apparent.

Variant: On films in TohoScope, "TOHO" and "SCOPE" are on the left and right sides of the circle in a huge font.

27th Logo (1965-1997)

Logo: Again, similar to before, but the logo is shown on a blue space background with mostly clear stripes that correspond to the various colors of light seen in the center of the logo. Small sparks of light are seen emitted from the center.

28th Logo (1993- )

Logo: An updated version of the last logo. The stripes are colored purple and various light blue colors, but also some green and yellow stripes are thrown in as well.

Nicknames: "The Circle II", "Shining Circle"

Logo: On a space blue background with multicolored lines, with a shining center. On the center, we see a white circle with the kanji "東宝" arranged vertically, which means "TOHO". Under the circle, we see yellow kanji that reads "東宝株式会社", which means "TOHO COMPANY, LTD".

Variants: The logo has changed through the years. Here, we can see the differences:

1943-1955: The logo is closer to the screen and in black and white. The Kanji wipes in below the logo instead of already being there.
1955-1965, 1984: The logo is in color,
1965-1997: The most famous variant of the logo. It is shown on a blue space background with mostly clear stripes that correspond to the various colors of light seen in the center of the logo.
1957-1965: "TOHO" and "SCOPE" are on the left and right sides of the circle in a huge font.
1993-: The logo is enhanced to look more modern. The stripes are colored purple and various light blue colors, but also some green and yellow stripes are thrown in as well.
- Also, some movies had an English-translated logo (with "TOHO" written in the circle and/or "TOHO COMPANY, LTD." in English, replacing the kanji). A still shot of this variant can be seen on the trailer for the anime film Metropolis.
There are versions of the logo in 4:3 (full open matte or cropped from widescreen), flat (1.85:1, 1.75:1), and CinemaScope (2.35, 2.55) .
The print circle was seen on Godzilla Unleashed for the Nintendo DS, as well as some Classic Media DVD releases of Toho material.

Trivia: This is possibly the longest-running logo ever, as it debuted in 1943 and is still used to this day; a whopping 78 years!

FX/SFX: The stripes rotating and shining. Very nice practical effects for its time, although it did improve over the years.

Music/Sounds: Usually silent or the opening theme of the film.

Availability: Can be seen many titles produced by Toho, such as popular ones like Godzilla, Black Dog, Last Song, and Super Godzilla to name a few. It can also be seen on several anime productions such as the Doraemon and Crayon Shin-Chan films, Metropolis, Akira, Macross: Do You Remember Love? and the Japanese (and later English-dubbed) releases of Pokémon films, among others. It can also be seen on Koneko Monogatari (1986), which was reedited and redubbed outside of Japan as The Adventures of Milo and Otis (a Columbia Pictures release). Additionally, it can be found on Japanese prints of Studio Ghibli films starting with Only Yesterday. The 1950s color version makes a surprise appearance on the 2016 movie Shin Godzilla, after the 2000s version. This appears on the Sci-Fi Channel's print of Vampire Hunter D; strangely, it's omitted on Streamline's releases of the same.

Editor's Note: This logo is a favorite among anime and tokusatsu fans.