Japan is a treasure trove of movie theaters. While many boast decades of history, most of such old cinemas have been rebuilt, renovated, or relocated in response to the needs of the times. But in the city of Motomiya in Fukushima Prefecture, there is a century-old theater preserved just the way it once was.

Built in 1914 as a theater of performing arts called Motomiya-za, it later started screening silent films and was renamed Motomiya Eiga Gekijo, or Motomiya Movie Theater, when local impresario Torakichi Tamura purchased it in 1943.

Following Tamura's death in 1954, the picture house was taken over by his son Shuji. It remained popular for the next decade, but closed down in 1963 as fewer people came to the movies with the advent of television. Even after its closure, Shuji worked to keep it in good shape with the hope of one day bringing it back to life.

In 2008 Shuji, now in his late 60s and retired, held a screening at the Motomiya Movie Theater for the first time in 45 years. It drew in an audience of 150 people. Another screening was held in 2014 to celebrate the theater's centennial. In 2021, Shuji's daughter Yuko wrote and published a book on the movie theater.

To enter the movie theater and step into the history of Japanese cinema, you have first to phone Mr. Tamura. If you're lucky and if he's available, he'll let you into the lobby filled with vintage movie posters and nostalgic whatnot. But the real gem is just behind the wall: an old silver screen set in an authentically retro hall, which once had a capacity of 800 people. There are more posters here, and handwritten flyers galore. Worth mentioning is the poster of Keisatsu Nikki, a 1952 film that was partly filmed in Motomiya and was a huge box-office hit at the Movie Theater.

You can also take a look inside the projection booth, occupied by a rare carbon arc film projector made in 1957. Astonishingly, it is still in working condition, screening a few films a year at the Motomiya Movie Theater to this day.