TOHO Cinemas, a subsidiary of Toho, is a major movie theater operator with approximately 70 movie theaters nationwide.
According to people involved, TOHO Cinemas is unfairly restraining the business of movie distributors by giving them preferential distribution and putting pressure on other companies not to distribute their films. The Japan Fair Trade Commission has been conducting an investigation on suspicion of violating the Antimonopoly Act, but the company has so far announced that it will no longer make requests that would be detrimental to distributors, and that it has taken measures to prevent recurrence. This means that they have submitted a voluntary commitment plan.
If the preventive measures presented in the voluntary plan are deemed to be sufficient, administrative sanctions such as cease and desist orders will be exempted, and the Fair Trade Commission will examine the content and take action. Decide.
In response to an interview with NHK, TOHO Cinemas said, “As the matter is under investigation, we cannot comment, but we are cooperating with the Fair Trade Commission investigation.”
