Cinema Walk 2nd Yokohama City Wisteria Shopping Street "Cinema Novecento"
"Kinema Walk" introduces mini theaters in Kanagawa Prefecture. The second leading role is a unique mini-theater consisting of only 28 seats and a trattoria, which we are proud to be the smallest in the world.
If you walk about 10 minutes from Tobe Station on the Keikyu Main Line or Nishi-Yokohama Station on the Sagami Railway Main Line, you will be invited to a small shopping street full of locals. In this wisteria shopping arcade, which is also known as the downtown area of Yokohama, long-established stores that have been around since the Taisho period coexist in a well-balanced fashion with new stores that incorporate trends.
When I entered the back of this shopping street with a somewhat nostalgic atmosphere, the signboards lined with the faces of world-famous stars caught my eye. The letters lined up on the white gate like a temple are "Cinema no Vecento".
From the exterior that perfectly fits the appearance of the shopping street, it seems that it has been watching over this area for a long time, but it is said that it opened in 2015. It has a dignified presence that makes it hard to believe that it has been less than 10 years since its opening. Mr. Katsuhiko Minowa, the representative, originally operated a cinema bar called "The Grissom Gang" in Kawasaki, but it closed in 2013 due to the deterioration of the building, etc. It was decided to open.
The walls and ceiling of the narrow staircase immediately after passing through the gate are covered with still photographs, and you will feel as if you are stepping into the world of the movie step by step. When you arrive on the second floor, you will be greeted by a reception desk that also serves as a shop, and a spacious bar space will appear. In this theater, the lobby area is a bar, so you can have a drink right after enjoying the movie! Like Novecento (Italian for 1900), this bar is affectionately known in Italian as a trattoria.
This theater, which we take pride in being the smallest in the world, has a whopping 28 seats! It's a size that makes you think it's "minimum" as expected, but it's close to the screen, making it easy to immerse yourself in the world of movies. Watching movies in a big movie theater or watching a movie at home will teach you a different way of enjoying it. The purple and yellow seats that give color to the black-based theater are said to have been taken over from the closed movie theater "Kichijoji Baus Theater".
This theater uses 35mm and 16mm film projectors to show about 3 films a day, but the most noteworthy is the line-up that can be called a maniac. Program organization that is particular about film has grabbed the hearts of movie fans. Sometimes foreign films that have not been released in Japan are introduced as "Cinema no Vecento distribution", and you can enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime encounter with works that can only be seen here. A unique line-up that you won't find anywhere else, from masterpieces to obscure works, including favorites you've seen repeatedly on videos, DVDs, and Blu-rays, as well as undiscovered works that haven't been preserved.
This theater, where you can feel the love for representative movies everywhere, is loved by many regulars, and some even come from far away. The opinions of the audience are sometimes incorporated into the screenings and talk show guests, and I felt that it is truly a place where the theater, the audience, and the people involved in the film are working together.
Cinema Novecento is one of the "must-see movie theaters" for movies that can only be seen here, for hidden masterpieces that have not been seen yet, and for once-in-a-lifetime encounters.
Click here for Kinema Walk 1st "Cinema Jack & Betty"
Click here for Kinema Walk 3rd "Yokohama Cinema Marine"
