Movies Theaters

Going to the movies in Japan is, for the most part, the same as going to a movie theater in the United States, but there are some major differences.

First off is the price - in America we complain about paying $10.00 to see a movie, in Japan that is the super special discount price of a movie ticket; the average price in Japan is about $18.00!

Food and stuff is pretty much the same - popcorn, hot dogs and candy and all of it is over-priced just like in America. The big differences come into play when you actually buy your ticket, you are shown a little map of the theater at the ticket booth and you have to choose where you will sit.

Some theaters even have "love seats" for those amorous couples, instead of sitting in separate seats, you both sit in one double-wide seat. That would never fly in America because people would be calling them "fat seats" and the theater would probably get sued by their "weight-challenged" customers.

Another big difference in movie audiences in Japan is that they are all super quiet during the movie; you'll never hear clapping or cheering. If you are lucky, you may hear a few stifled giggles if something is really funny on screen, but that is about it. All foreign movies are playing in their original language with subtitles, unlike Americans, the Japanese much prefer hearing the dialogue in its native tongue and don't mind reading the subtitles.

At the end of the movie, there is no clapping either. I've heard that silence at the end of a movie is a hugh compliment in Japan. People also often stay through the ending credits (or maybe they are just used to Marvel movies...) and they all take their garbage out with them. As a result, on the floors of Japanese theaters there is no cinimuck - that sticky, tacky gunk that exists on movie theater floors in America (who remembers Sniglets?) Waiting outside the theater are ushers who collect and sort the trash into their proper receptacles, recycling for the win!

This movie poster kind of surprised me though, in the US it's called "The Wolverine" but in Japan it was called "Wolverine: Samurai," but that's not what surprised me though. It's the fact that the word "Wolverine" is written in Japanese and the word "Samurai" is written in English. Shouldn't it be the other way around?