TOKYO –
A black-and-white photograph taken in 1955 has revealed how Tokyo’s Kinshicho district once resembled a sprawling movie set, with theaters, restaurants and drinking establishments packed into an entertainment quarter that drew crowds from across the city’s eastern neighborhoods.
The photograph shows a bustling passage lined with cinemas, including the Koto Theater, as people in winter clothing and kimono walk beneath large signs advertising New Year film programs. The scene was photographed in Sumida Ward, but extensive redevelopment left few immediate clues to its precise location.
Kinshicho today is a major commercial center, with large shopping complexes surrounding the station and Tokyo Skytree visible nearby. Kinshi Park, north of the station, serves as a popular gathering place for local residents. Longtime residents said, however, that the district’s atmosphere has changed significantly since the construction of Skytree and other redevelopment projects.
The northern side of Kinshicho Station was not heavily developed in the 1950s, leading local shopkeepers to suggest that the photograph was taken on the busier southern side. That area had long been known for entertainment, drinking and gambling, giving Kinshicho a reputation that some residents described as difficult to discuss openly.
One elderly resident recalled being warned not to venture south of the station because it was considered dangerous. Another local described the old Kinshicho as a town associated with betting, drinking and nightlife.
The district’s entertainment businesses developed partly to serve workers employed at the many factories that once operated in eastern Tokyo. Movie theaters, restaurants, bars and other leisure facilities opened around the station, creating a lively adult entertainment district.
Kinshicho also had a confectionery industry. One traditional candy shop north of the station continues to sell sweets made locally, including old-fashioned fugashi snacks carrying the Kinshicho name. The store also sells individual pieces of candy and blocks of ice and attracts local residents preparing for summer festivals.
On the southern side, Yamada-ya, a ningyo-yaki cake shop founded by the current owner’s grandfather, developed its own Kinshicho-style cakes shaped like raccoon dogs. Ningyo-yaki is more commonly associated with Asakusa, but the shop created original designs for the local market.
The owner said the old photograph was most likely taken at Rakutenchi, a major entertainment complex that continues to house movie theaters. Rakutenchi once contained numerous cinemas and performance venues and attracted large crowds, including visitors from surrounding districts such as Sunamachi.
Local residents recalled that the streets were especially crowded on weekends with horse-racing customers. Some traces of that era remain in narrow backstreets lined with small, single-story drinking establishments.
A nearby tempura restaurant founded in the early Showa era has operated for nearly a century. Its owner remembered visiting the Kinshicho cinemas to see popular Japanese films, including entries in the Wakadaisho series, and said people regularly traveled to the district to watch movies and enjoy its nightlife.
The search eventually led to Hayashi, a long-established okonomiyaki and seasonal cuisine restaurant whose owner has worked there for 53 years. The restaurant retains an old iron griddle that was once used at the center of the dining area.
The owner identified the photographed passage as part of the former Rakutenchi cinema district. He recalled several theaters standing close together, including the Koto Theater, Kinshicho Gekijo and other cinemas showing Japanese and foreign films. The theaters formed a dense entertainment zone stretching through the streets behind the present Rakutenchi complex.
The site was reached through a narrow lane one block from the main road facing Rakutenchi. Although the original theaters have disappeared or moved into modern buildings, the shape of the street remains largely unchanged, preserving the outline of the passage shown in the 1955 photograph.
Rakutenchi was developed by Ichizo Kobayashi, the entrepreneur who founded the Takarazuka Revue and helped build major movie and entertainment businesses in Yurakucho. His plan was to create an adult leisure district in eastern Tokyo, an area then dominated by factories and working-class neighborhoods.
The result was a destination where visitors could watch films and stage performances before eating tempura or okonomiyaki and visiting nearby bars. The concentration of cinemas and entertainment venues gave the area an appearance that some compared to Broadway.
Modern redevelopment has transformed Kinshicho into a cleaner and more broadly accessible commercial district. Its movie theaters now operate inside large buildings, and the old performance halls have disappeared, but the surviving backstreets, restaurants and shops continue to reflect the area’s history as one of eastern Tokyo’s busiest entertainment centers.
Source: KTV NEWS
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