History
Toho International, Inc. was established in Los Angeles, California, in May 1953 (corporate filing dated July 20, 1953) as a subsidiary of the Japanese film company Toho Co., Ltd. Its original purpose was to handle the sale, distribution, and promotion of Toho films in North and South American markets. Among the earliest titles it exported were Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai (1954) and Ishirō Honda's Godzilla (1954), which helped introduce Japanese cinema—and the emerging kaiju genre—to Western audiences. A New York City branch office was opened on February 27, 1960.
During the 1960s and 1970s the company supported theatrical exhibition of Toho films in the United States, including screenings at Toho-operated venues such as the Toho La Brea Theatre in Los Angeles. In addition to film distribution, Toho International managed licensing and merchandising rights for Toho properties and oversaw trademarks and copyrights in the Americas. For a period the subsidiary also engaged in real-estate activities and eventually became largely dormant.
In 2019, as part of Toho's "Toho Vision 2021 Medium-term Management Strategy," the parent company injected ¥15.4 billion ($140 million) into Toho International through a capital increase. The move was intended to revitalize the U.S. subsidiary as a hub for international expansion, particularly the global development of the Godzilla intellectual property and related character businesses.
On January 5, 2023, Toho International announced that it would acquire a 50% stake in Frederator Networks animated series Bee and PuppyCat, Bravest Warriors, and Bravest Warriors spinoff Catbug. The deal would allow new content to be produced based on the properties, while Toho International's parent company Toho would hold distribution rights in Asian territories. On October 1, Toho International was split with the rest of Toho's non-Japanese and Asian subsidiaries into Toho Global. In December 2023, the company released Godzilla Minus One in the United States as its first wide self-distributed release there and announced its intent to acquire a 25% stake in Fifth Season, majority-owned by CJ ENM, for $225 million.
On October 15, 2024, Toho announced that they would acquire distributor GKIDS for an undisclosed amount, of which GKIDS would become a subsidiary of Toho International. The deal was completed in 2025.
