Historic Japanese cinema revamps couple discount offer to include LGBT patrons

Although it's common in most countries to see cinema discounts for students and old age pensioners, in Japan you can get discounts for some other unexpected things.

For one, most cinemas have a ladies’ day, when female customers can enjoy discounted tickets.

Another offer is ‘couple discounts’ which enable a romantic and affordable trip to the movies.

One cinema created a positive buzz online when they revamped one of their staple couple discounts to be more inclusive. The "husband and wife 50 discount" was created for married couples aged over 50.

This cinema in particular, the Kawagoe Scalaza cinema, has a long history, operating since all the way back in 1940. The building itself has been around even longer, it opened as a music hall in 1905.

But they’ve shown that they can keep up with the times, following up on a wise suggestion from one of their part timers, that the "husband and wife 50 discount" could be rebooted to make it more inclusive.

Now the deal has been reborn as the "partner 50 discount," using the English word "partner" to include any gender in the campaign. A small change in wording made the offer explicitly inclusive for LGBT patrons, provided that one of the pair is above 50 years old, of course.

The move was welcomed by the public when the cinema updated the offer on their Twitter. Many remarked that despite the cinema’s historic roots, they are really in tune with the needs of this era. Others called them pioneers, and hoped that other cinemas would follow suit.

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