Editing Toho (section)

=== International expansion (1953–present) ===
{{See also|Toho International}}
In May 1953, Toho established [[Toho International]], a [[Los Angeles]]-based subsidiary intended to target [[North America]]n and [[Latin America]]n markets. ''Seven Samurai'' was among the first films offered for foreign sales.{{sfn|Ryfle|Godziszewski|2017|p=148}}{{multiple image
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| caption2          = The [[Hibiya Godzilla Square]] located nearby the headquarters in [[Chiyoda, Tokyo]]
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Toho and Shochiku competed with the influx of Hollywood films and boosted the film industry by focusing on new directors of the likes of [[Akira Kurosawa]], [[Kon Ichikawa]], [[Keisuke Kinoshita]], [[Ishirō Honda]], and [[Kaneto Shindo]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/The_International_Movie_Industry|title=The international movie industry|last=Kindem|first=Gorham Anders|date=2000|page=17|publisher=Carbondale : Southern Illinois University Press}}</ref>

After several successful film exports to the United States during the 1950s through [[Henry G. Saperstein]], Toho took over the [[La Brea Theatre]] in [[Los Angeles]] to show its films without the need to sell them to a distributor. It was known as the Toho Theatre from the late 1960s until the 1970s.<ref>[http://cinematreasures.org/theater/2293/ Fox La Brea Theatre in Los Angeles, CA]. Cinema Treasures. Retrieved on 2014-05-12.</ref> Toho also had a theater in [[San Francisco]] and opened a theater in [[New York City]] in 1963.<ref>"Toho" ''Far East Film News'' December 25, 1963.</ref> The [[Shintoho]] Company, which existed until 1961, was named New Toho because it broke off from the original company.<ref name="Cinematheque">{{Cite web |title=Nudes! Guns! Ghosts! The Sensational Cinema of Shintoho |url=http://thecinematheque.ca/nudes-guns-ghosts-the-sensational-cinema-of-shintoho  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190806234425/http://thecinematheque.ca/nudes-guns-ghosts-the-sensational-cinema-of-shintoho |archive-date=August 6, 2019 |access-date=May 10, 2022 |work=[[The Cinematheque]]}}</ref> Toho has contributed to the production of some American films, including [[Sam Raimi]]'s 1998 film, ''[[A Simple Plan (film)|A Simple Plan]]''<ref>{{cite web |last1=Cox |first1=Dan |title=Fonda has 'A Simple Plan' |url=https://variety.com/1997/film/news/fonda-has-a-simple-plan-111797668/ |website=Variety |access-date=15 July 2018|date=1997-12-21 }}</ref> and [[Paul W. S. Anderson]]'s 2020 [[military science fiction]]/[[kaiju]] film, ''[[Monster Hunter (film)|Monster Hunter]]''.<ref name="Toho">{{cite web |title=映画 モンスターハンター |url=https://www.toho.co.jp/movie/lineup/monsterhunter-movie.html |access-date=May 10, 2022 |work=Toho |language=Japanese |archive-date=February 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200214124353/https://www.toho.co.jp/movie/lineup/monsterhunter-movie.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 2019, Toho invested ¥15.4 billion ($14 million) into their Los Angeles-based subsidiary [[Toho International|Toho International Inc.]] as part of their "Toho Vision 2021 Medium-term Management Strategy", a strategy to increase content, platform, real-estate, beat JPY50 billion profits, and increase character businesses on Toho intellectual properties such as Godzilla. Hiroyasu Matsuoka was named the representative director of the US subsidiary.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2019/film/asia/japan-godzilla-toho-expansion-in-hollywood-1203192294/|title='Godzilla' Owner Toho Poised for Expansion in Hollywood|first=Patrick|last=Frater|work=Variety|date=April 18, 2019|access-date=April 18, 2019|url-status=live|archive-date=April 18, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418100048/https://variety.com/2019/film/asia/japan-godzilla-toho-expansion-in-hollywood-1203192294/}}</ref>

In 2020, Toho acquired a 34.8% stake in the animation studio TIA, with ILCA and Anima each retaining a 32.6% stake. In 2022, Toho acquired Anima's 32.6% stake to take a controlling 67.4% stake in TIA, making the studio a subsidiary, and ultimately renaming the studio into Toho Animation Studios.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Pineda|first1=Rafael Antonio |title=TOHO Acquires Controlling Stake in TIA, Renames it to Toho Animation Studio|url=https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2022-09-20/toho-acquires-controlling-stake-in-tia-renames-it-to-toho-animation-studio/.189873|website=Anime News Network|access-date=December 18, 2022|date=September 20, 2022}}</ref>

In December 2023, Toho announced their intent to acquire a 25% stake in Fifth Season for $225 million via Toho International. Following the completion of the deal, Fifth Season will be valued at $900 million; [[CJ ENM]] will remain the majority shareholder in the company, with former owner [[Endeavor (company)|Endeavor]] also continuing to serve as a strategic shareholder. CEOs Graham Taylor and Chris Rice stated that this investment would empower the company to continue the expansion of its premium slate and create opportunities for collaboration between Fifth Season, Toho and CJ ENM to produce global content as well as content produced in Japan.<ref>{{cite web|title=Japan's Toho Acquires 25% Stake In Fifth Season; Korea's CJ ENM Remains Majority Shareholder|website=[[Deadline Hollywood]]|first=Liz|last=Shackleton|date=10 December 2023|access-date=11 December 2023|url=https://deadline.com/2023/12/fifth-season-toho-japan-cj-enm-korea-1235661178/}}</ref>

Following the success of ''[[Godzilla Minus One]]'' (2023) as their first self-distributed film in the U.S., Toho declared in March 2024 that Godzilla is their "[[Intellectual property]] (IP) treasure" and they had regained retailing rights overseas (which were once abandoned), and now are able to sell, advertise, and distribute their own products to consumers outside Japan directly.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 11, 2024 |title=東宝「ゴジラ-1.0」アカデミー賞受賞が開く海外市場 |url=https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQOUC047V10U4A300C2000000/ |access-date=March 13, 2024 |website=[[The Nikkei]] |language=ja}}</ref> The company also said that the film winning [[Academy Award for Best Visual Effects|Best Visual Effects]] at the [[96th Academy Awards]] is helping them gain more recognition and advancing more business extension overseas.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 12, 2024 |title=「ゴジラビジネス」完全覚醒 東宝、商品化権買い戻し - 日本経済新聞 |url=https://www.nikkei.com/nkd/industry/article/?n_m_code=151&ng=DGKKZO79160790R10C24A3TB0000 |access-date=March 13, 2024 |website=[[The Nikkei]] |language=ja}}</ref>In April 2025, Toho announced plans to invest ¥15 billion ($105 million) into Godzilla, including a ''Godzilla Minus One'' sequel, video games, merchandise, and amusement park attractions, as part of a larger ¥120 billion ($830 million) investment into expanding its film and anime projects.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kim |first=Sohee |date=2025-04-14 |title='Godzilla' Studio Toho to Invest $830 million in global push |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-04-14/-godzilla-studio-toho-to-invest-830-million-in-global-push |access-date=2025-04-17 |website=[[Bloomberg News|Bloomberg]]}}</ref>

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