The managers of Shinjuku's landmark Koma Stadium announced today that they will be turning out the lights at the end of the year. The theatre first opened in 1956 and played host to giants of the entertainment world like Hibari Misora and Saburo Kitajima and, at its peak, attendances were over a million visitors a year. Recently, however, mainstay enka performers have failed to attract the same crowds and, as the facilities at the venue have been showing their age, even performances by Morning Musume and the occasional overseas musical have done little to restore the venue's former glory. Another consideration is that the clean-up of the surrounding Kabukicho area has made it a more attractive proposition for redevelopment. Indeed, the plans call for new building on the whole Koma Stadium site and the adjacent Toho Kaikan cinema complex.
