| Type | Public corporation |
|---|---|
| Industry | Film and Television |
| Founded | October 1, 1950 as Tokyo Film Distribution |
| Headquarters | Chūō-ku Ginza 3-chōme 2-ban 17-kou, 104-8108 Tokyo, JPN |
| Area served | Japan |
| Products | Motion pictures, publicity materials |
| Services | Film and TV distribution and marketing |
| Revenue | ¥ 66,300,000,000 (as of March 2006) |
| Employees | 311 (as of March 31, 2006) |
| Subsidiaries | Toei Digital Lab Toei Labo Tech Toei Language Tech Center Toei Animation Toei Television Production Toei Video Toei Satellite Broadcasting Toei Agency |
| Website | (日本語) Toei.co.jp |
Toei Co., Ltd. (東映株式会社 Tōei Kabushiki-gaisha) (TYO: 9605) (pronounced toe ay) is a Japanese film, television production, and distribution corporation. Based in Tokyo, Toei owns and operates thirty-four (34) movie theaters across Japan, a modest vertically-integrated studio system by the standards of the 1930s United States; operates studios at Tokyo and Kyoto; and is a stockholder in several television companies. It is notable for anime, live action dramas known as tokusatsu which use special visual effects, and historical dramas (jidaigeki).
Toei was a pioneer in the use of character transformation in live-action martial-arts dramas, a technique developed for the Kamen Rider, Devilman and Super Sentai series; the genre currently continues with Kamen Rider and Super Sentai.
The name "Toei" is derived from the company's former name "Tōkyō Eiga Haikyū" (Tokyo Film Distribution Company).
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Tokyo-Yokohama Films (東横映画 Tō-Yoko Eiga), incorporated 1938, had previously erected its facilities immediately east of the Tokyu Tōkyō-Yokohama Line; they managed the Tōkyū Shibuya Yokohama studio system prior to V-J Day. From 1945 through the Toei merger, Tokyo-Yokohama Films leased from the Daiei Motion Picture Company a second studio in Kyoto. Through the merger, they gained the combined talents and experience of actors Chiezō Kataoka, Utaemon Ichikawa, Ryunosuke Tsukigata, Ryūtarō Ōtomo, Kinnosuke Nakamura, Chiyonosuke Azuma, Shirunosuke Toshin, Hashizo Okawa and Satomi Oka.
On October 1, 1950, the Tokyo Film Distribution Company was incorporated; in 1951 the company purchased Ōizumi Films .
In 1956, Toei established an animation division, Toei Animation Company, Ltd. at the former Tokyo-Ōizumi animation studio, purchasing the assets of Japan Animated Films (originally founded in 1948).