Shinjuku Koma Theater to Be Closed in December

By Kyodo News International, Tokyo

May 28–TOKYO — Koma Stadium Co., a Tokyo-based operator of entertainment facilities, said Wednesday it will close Shinjuku Koma Stadium theater with a performance by pop singers slated for Dec. 31.

The company blamed the planned shutdown on falling audiences, which have resulted in flagging earnings results over recent years.

The theater opened in 1956 in Tokyo’s Kabukicho area of Shinjuku.

It has provided a venue for performances by such popular “enka” Japanese ballad singers as Hibari Misora and Saburo Kitajima as well as for musicals by foreign troupes.

Koma Stadium said it will implement a redevelopment project for the theater’s premises with the aid of filmmaker Toho Co.

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Copyright (c) 2008, Kyodo News International, Tokyo

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

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