JR construction forcing Shimbashi ‘pink’ theater to shut in August

TOKYO (TR) – The Shimbashi Roman Theater, one of the last remaining movie houses in Tokyo screening soft-core “pink” pornographic cinema, will close in August, the theater announced on its Web site and Twitter account on Monday.

After a 57-year-history, the theater, located in Minato Ward, will close its doors on August 31 due to construction intended to improve earthquake resistance for the railroad tracks of East Japan Railway that run above its building.

【新橋文化劇場・新橋ロマン劇場閉館のお知らせ】http://t.co/qLr2DSQseT pic.twitter.com/lycrChHAHT

— 新橋文化劇場 (@shinbashibunka) July 7, 2014

The adjacent Shimbashi Bunka Theater, which screens classic mainstream films, is also scheduled to shut its doors.

The Shimbashi Roman Theater specializes in the genre known as pinku eiga, or pink films, which began in the 1960s. Usually running for 60 minutes, the productions are made by small companies and differ from conventional pornographic films in that the stories are more broadly developed.

In October of 2012, the Asakusa Sekaikan, located in Taito Ward, also closed. The last remaining theaters screening pink cinema in Tokyo are located in the Ueno, Shinjuku and Ikebukuro districts.