Overview 1961 to 1965

Rapid Decline

After its peak in 1958, Japanese Movie Industry showed rapid decline. One of (and major one of) the reasons was spread of television sets.

The number of attendance in 1965 was less than 4/10 of that in 1960.
The number of movie theaters in 1965 was 6/10 or more of that in 1960.
The total number of productions produced and/or distributed by the major companies in 1965 was approx. a half of that in 1960.

In 1961, Shin-toho went bankrupt after unsuccessful merger negotiation with Toei, which then had not given up its "2 x 2" distribution.

The major companies began to reduce the number of productions per year. Even Toei, in 1964, produced only 70 titles or so (approx. 4/10 of the number in 1962).
Toei's Jidaigeki lost popularity. However, Toei succeeded to exploit new genres and series, so that Toei could hold its ground.

Nikkatsu was not so fortunate as Toei. The popularity of Yujiro Ishihara passed its peak in this period. To make matters worse, Nikkatsu lost huge money due to failures of real estate business.

Daiei also suffered from the decline of popularity of Jidaigeki. The productions of Daiei kept high quality, but its financial situation worsened.  

Only Toho was stable. However, Toho began to show obvious tendency to avoid risks. Consequently, even the association with Akiro Kurosawa ended in 1965 after "Red Beard".