Toei Company facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Toei Company, Ltd.

Headquarters in Chūō, Tokyo
Native name	東映株式会社
Romanized name	Tōei Kabushiki-gaisha
Formerly	Tōkyō Eiga Haikyū (1949–1951)
Type	Public
Traded as	TYO: 9605
Industry	Film and television Video games
Predecessor	Toyoko Eiga Company Ōizumi Films
Founded	October 1, 1949; 75 years ago (1949-10-01) (as Tōkyō Eiga)
Founder	Keita Goto
Headquarters	Kyobashi Edogrand, 2-1 Kyōbashi 2-chome, Chūō, Tokyo , Japan
Area served	Worldwide, with a focus in Japan
Key people	Noriyuki Tada (chairman) Fumio Yoshimura (CEO) Yuji Kojima (Studio Head)
Products	Motion pictures, publicity materials
Services	Film and TV distribution and marketing
Revenue	¥ 66,300,000,000 (As of March 2006)
Number of employees	343 (As of March 1, 2019)
Subsidiaries	Toei Video Toei Advertising Toei Studios Kyoto Toei TV Production Toei CM Toei Labo Tech San-ei Printing T-Joy Toei Hotel Chain Toei Kenko Toei Animation (34.2%) TV Asahi Holdings (8.09%)

Toei Company, Ltd. (東映株式会社, Tōei Kabushiki-gaisha, an acronym for Tōkyō Eiga Haikyū (東京映画配給) lit. Tokyo Film Distribution), often called Toei, is a Japanese entertainment company. It is based in Kyōbashi, Chūō, Tokyo. Toei makes and distributes movies and TV shows. They also develop video games and own 34 movie theaters.

Toei has studios in Tokyo and Kyoto. They also own parts of several TV companies. The company is famous for making anime and live-action shows called tokusatsu. These shows use cool special effects. Toei also makes historical dramas. Toei owns most of Toei Animation. They are known for popular series like Kamen Rider and Super Sentai.

Toei is one of Japan's "Big Four" film studios. The other three are Kadokawa, Shochiku, and Toho.

Toei's History

Toei was a pioneer in using "Henshin" or "character transformation" in their shows. This special effect was first used in the Kamen Rider, Metal Hero, and Super Sentai series. These types of shows are still popular today.

Toei's story began in 1938 with the Toyoko Eiga Company, Ltd. Keita Goto, who led the Tokyo-Yokohama Electric Railway, started it. This company had studios near the Tōkyū Tōyoko Line. After 1945, they also rented a studio in Kyoto.

On October 1, 1950, the Tokyo Film Distribution Company was formed. It was a part of Toyoko Eiga. In 1951, this company bought Ōizumi Films. The Toei Company we know today was officially created on April 1, 1951. Hiroshi Okawa became its first president. Many talented actors joined Toei through this merger.

In 1955, Toei bought the Kyoto studio. A year later, in 1956, Toei started its animation division. This became Toei Animation Company, Limited. They bought the assets of Japan Animated Films to do this.

Toei also helped start a TV station focused on education in 1956. This station is now known as TV Asahi.

Shigeru Okada became Toei's president in 1971. He helped Toei start distributing foreign films in Japan in 1972.

In 1975, Toei opened the Toei Kyoto Studio Park. This park is a fun place where visitors can see movie sets. The Kyoto Studio's history goes back to 1926.

Shigeru Okada became the chairman in 1993. Tan Takaiwa took over as president. Toei also started Toei Satellite TV Co., Ltd. and created Toei Channel in 1998.

In 2000, TV Asahi Holdings Corporation was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Shares of Toei Animation Co., Ltd. were also listed.

Shigeru Okada passed away in 2011. In 2014, Yusuke Okada became chairman and Noriyuki Tada became president.

Osamu Tezuka became president in 2020. Noriyuki Tada became chairman. Toei also celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Kamen Rider Series in 2020. Tezuka started big changes in 2022 before he passed away in February 2023.

Noriyuki Tada temporarily became CEO. Then, Fumio Yoshimura became Toei's 7th president. Yoshimura plans to continue Tezuka's changes. He is also looking to create new projects and share existing ones in North America and Asia. In 2025, Yoshimura and Yuji Kojima visited Los Angeles. They announced Toei had a budget of US$1.6 billion for content. They also budgeted US$400 million to improve business operations.

On July 27, 2025, Toei moved its headquarters to Kyobashi Edogrand. They also closed their cinema division. This was to focus more on T-JOY [ja].

Toei's Brand and Logo

The rocks at Cape Inubō, seen in the Toei opening title card.

The name Toei (東映) means "East Reflection." It comes from the company's earlier name, "Toyoko Eiga." The first logo had a triangle with the Japanese characters for "East" (東) and "Reflection" (映). Toei kept this logo after merging in 1951.

Toei's famous opening credit shows "Wild Waves and Rocks" (荒磯に波). A black and white version was first used in 1954. The color version appeared in 1961. This image has been re-filmed many times over 70 years.

The image shows the Toei logo over a scene from Cape Inubō in Chiba. You can see three rocks in the ocean with waves crashing over them. This image appears before most live-action films and TV shows from Toei. This includes Street Fighter, Power Rangers, and some animated films like Dragon Ball.

Toei's logo is dynamic and moving. This makes it one of the most recognized Japanese film company logos around the world.

Films and Television Shows

Toei Films

Toei started making films in 1953. They became known for action films and TV series.

Toei Animation Films

To learn more about Toei's animated films, see the main article: Toei Animation.

Toei Produced and Distributed Shows

Shows Created with Shotaro Ishinomori

• Nebula Mask Machineman
• Android Kikaider
• Kikaider 01
• Inazuman
• Robotto Keiji
• Akumaizer 3
• Sarutobi Ecchan

Video Games

• Ninja Hayate (1984)
• Time Gal (1985)
• The Masked Rider: Kamen Rider ZO (1994)
• Chameleon Twist (1997)
• Chameleon Twist 2 (1998)

Saburo Yatsude: A Collective Name

Saburō Yatsude (八手 三郎) is a special name used by Toei Company TV producers. It's a "collective pseudonym," meaning it's a fake name used by a group of people. It's similar to how Bandai Namco Filmworks uses "Hajime Yatate."

This name started being used with the show The Kagestar. It has been used for many Super Sentai and Metal Hero Series shows. It was also used for Spider-Man and many other anime series. The name is also used for people who help with the music for these shows.

Toei Animation stopped using Saburo Yatsude in 1999. They started using the name Izumi Todo instead. The first anime created by Izumi Todo was Ojamajo Doremi.

In the Unofficial Sentai Akibaranger series, Saburo Hatte is shown as a real, god-like person. In one episode, his hand even appears to end the show!

In a spin-off episode of Doubutsu Sentai Zyuohger, a person named Jun Hikasa played Saburo Yatsude.

On April 3, 2016, a Toei staff member wearing a "Giraffe Zyuman" mask was interviewed. They said their name was Saburo Yatsude.

Original Creator

Live Action

• The Kagestar (1976-1977)
• Ninja Captor (1976-1977)
• Spider-Man (1978-1979)
• Kamen Rider (1971-present)
• Super Sentai (1979-present)
• Metal Hero Series (1982-1999)
• Choukou Senshi Changéríon (1996)
• Unofficial Sentai Akibaranger (2012-2013)

Anime

• Robot Romance Trilogy (1976-1979)
• Future Robot Daltanious (1979-1980)
• Space Emperor God Sigma (1980-1981)
• Beast King GoLion (1981-1982)
• Armored Fleet Dairugger XV (1982-1983)
• Lightspeed Electroid Albegas (1983-1984)
• Video Warrior Laserion (1984-1985)

Script

Television

• Sore Kara no Musashi (1964-1965)
• Mito Kōmon (1964-1965)
• Tensou Sentai Goseiger (2010)
• Kikai Sentai Zenkaiger (2021)
• Avataro Sentai Donbrothers (2022)
• Kamen Rider Gavv (2025)

Web Series

• From Episode of Stinger - Uchu Sentai Kyuranger: High School Wars (2017)
• Kikai Sentai Zenkaiger Spin-Off: Zenkai Red Great Introduction! (2021)
• Avataro Sentai Donbrothers Meets Kamen Rider Den-O: Aim! Don-O (2022)

Director

• Nebula Mask Machineman (1984)

See also

In Spanish: Toei Company para niños