Cinema in Woods at Foot of Mt. Fuji a Breath of Fresh Air for Movie Buffs
YAMANAKAKO, Yamanashi — A small outdoor movie theater with a 240-inch screen has opened in the woods at the foot of Mt. Fuji in Yamanakako, Yamanashi Prefecture.
Yamanaka Cinema, a small outdoor movie theater with a 240-inch screen, recently opened in the woods at the base of Mt. Fuji in Yamanakako, Yamanashi Prefecture. The theater, operated by Koichi Morita who runs a nearby cafe, offers a unique experience for movie enthusiasts who can now enjoy films surrounded by nature.
On a pleasant evening in August, six people were watching the Greek documentary "Little Island" when a cool breeze blew through the forest. Minori Nabeshima, a 52-year-old office worker from Shizuoka City, expressed that watching movies outdoors could become a memorable experience.
Morita, 46, moved to the area in 2022 to raise his children in the countryside. While he initially assumed operating the cafe would be enough for his ideal life, his children's request for movie outings led him to open the outdoor theater. The screen and equipment cost about ¥3 million, but Morita remains content if the theater is well-received by locals.
The cinema will primarily operate on weekends until the end of October and charges ¥1,000 for elementary and junior high school students, and ¥1,500 for high school students and above. Currently, it screens around 10 old movies, but Morita is considering showing new releases as attendance rises.
The Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan reported that movie theaters in Japan sold 188.75 million tickets in 2025, a sixth of the peak in 1958. As multiscreen complexes boom, neighborhood theaters are gradually disappearing. Unique mini-theaters, like Yamanaka Cinema, aim to preserve places for communal movie-watching and maintain film culture.
Written by urgent.news from The Japan News by The Yomiuri Shimbun's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
