Joseph Luster
June 4, 2020 
Like many businesses, cinemas have been hit hard during the COVID-19 pandemic. In Japan, with the recent lifting of the State of Emergency, entertainment businesses are finally coming back to life along with the second stage of the country’s economic reopening. Among them is the Toho Cinema chain, which will open on June 5 with showings of the AKIRA 4K remaster and Makoto Shinkai’s Weathering With You.
Other films to be screened include some of the PSYCHO-PASS anime movies, as well as Masaaki Yuasa’s Lu Over the Wall and The Night is Short, Walk on Girl.
Toho Cinemas will still be taking precautions, including selling only every other seat, removing seating and tables in the lobby, requiring masks, and only allowing pre-purchase tickets starting at midnight on the day of showing.
Prior to this, Tokyo chains like Cinema Sunshine and SMT Theaters opened on June 1 with similar policies to restrict the spread of COVID-19. This is definitely good news for businesses considering the last box office report.
Source: Eiga Natalie via Crunchyroll
