Toho

Toho Co., Ltd. (東宝株式会社, Tōhō Kabushiki-gaisha) is a Japanese film production, distribution, and theater stage exhibition company. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Toho is best known for producing and distributing many of Ishirō Honda and Eiji Tsuburaya's kaiju and tokusatsu films as well as the films of Akira Kurosawa and the animated films produced by Studio Ghibli, Studio Pierrot, Production I.G, Shin-Ei Animation, TMS Entertainment (except for Anpanman), Madhouse, Inc., CoMix Wave Films, and OLM, Inc. The company has released the majority of the highest-grossing Japanese films, and through its subsidiaries, is the largest film importer in Japan. The Doraemon film series, distributed by Toho since 1980, is the highest-grossing film series and animated film series in Japan. It is also one of the highest-grossing non-English language film series. Toho's most famous creation is Godzilla, featured in 36 of the company's films. Godzilla, Rodan, Mothra, King Ghidorah, and Mechagodzilla are described as Toho's Big Five due to their numerous appearances throughout the Godzilla franchise, including the Shōwa, Heisei, Millennium, Reiwa, and the American Monsterverse eras, as well as spin-offs. Toho has also been involved in the production of numerous anime titles. Its current subsidiaries include Toho Studios, Toho International, Toho Cinemas, Toho-Towa Co., Ltd. (Japanese theatrical distributor of Universal Pictures films since 2007), and Towa Pictures (Japanese theatrical distributor of Paramount Pictures films since 2016 and Warner Bros. Pictures films since 2026). The company is the largest shareholder (7.96%) of Fuji Media Holdings Inc. Toho is one of the four members of the Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan (MPPAJ), is the largest of Japan's Big Four film studios, and is the only film studio that is a component of the Nikkei 225 index.