sakamoto 
The Motomiya Film Theatre is a testament to tenacity, having barely changed its appearance since shutting its doors in 1963. The faded pink wooden structure that looms as you walk deeper into the town of Motomiya, Fukushima prefecture, opened in 1918 and marks its 108th anniversary in 2022. Over the half century since it closed, and with no prospect of reopening, the venue is still cared for by the owner,[MOU1] Tamura Shuji. Born in 1936, he labours alone to maintain the auditorium and equipment, ready to fire it up at any time, despite being basically ignored and even derided by the townspeople.
In 2008, for the first time in 45 years, town officials miraculously ‘re-discovered’ the Motomiya Theatre. In an effort to promote local business, they supported a screening there. But despite occasional movies since then, audiences have stayed away. Even so, Tamura smiles happily as he strokes his projector, and he continues in his free time to splice together old film at home, editing the cuttings into original shorts in a hobby not unlike making one’s own mix tapes.
The Motomiya is a relic of a regional culture, when cinemas were all-purpose entertainment hubs — ‘the only show in town’ — staging movies as well as striptease, pro-wrestling, traditional roukyoku ballads, koudan storytelling, even rockabilly concerts. Many of these venues, including the Motomiya, began life as playhouses, and the countryside was dotted with oversize shacks that faced the same struggle as cinemas in big cities — barely able to survive on the offerings of the major studios alone. If you visit the Motomiya Theatre, Tamura may show you his rich collection of posters and flyers from those days, promoting his double-header movie and onstage events.
“We screened two action or crime movies, followed by a 15-minute striptease short,” says Tamura. “Afterward, from about 10pm, we started showtime. Locals embarrassed to be seen there would cover their faces with hand towels, or wear hats and glasses.” He laughs and says, “I could understand their feeling.”
“We often staged women’s wrestling and dwarf wrestling,” he says. “Men’s events were a bit too violent, but the women sure got into their bouts, right here on stage. Of course, the audience was really there to catch a bit of flesh, even though all the girls wore swimming costumes. But we got the dwarves involved — they would go squeezing the girls’ boobs, and then get belted out of the way.” Times have changed. How many people remember that spectacles such as women’s and dwarf wrestling were also a staple of summer and autumn festivals, and often shown on TV?
[MOU1]二代目だが、初代から若くして受け継いできたので。