TOKYO -- Toho is to turn Koma Stadium, which owns the Shinjuku Koma Theater in Tokyo's Shinjuku entertainment district, into a wholly owned subsidiary, the company announced Tuesday. Toho currently owns 9.5% of Koma's shares.

  From July 23 to 25, Toho will buy up all Koma stock at $69 a share from other shareholders, including Hankyu Hanshin Holdings. 
   Toho intends to redevelop the Koma together with a picture palace it owns next door. Detailed plans have not yet been announced.

   The Koma, which opened in 1956, became a nationwide Mecca for fans of Kabuki, musicals and singers of enka (Japanese ballads), who staged elaborate shows in the 2,000-seater house. At its peak, it was recording nearly one million admissions annually. But as the building aged, so did audiences and eventually the theater's elderly loyalists faded away, together with its profits. The theater will close at the end of the year.

© Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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