The distributor of "Yasukuni," a Chinese director's controversial documentary about Yasukuni Shrine, has announced that 21 cinemas in areas including Tokyo and Osaka will screen the film.

Argo Pictures said the film by director Li Ying would be screened in early May. It is withholding the names of the theaters, saying that announcing the screening locations could cause a disturbance.

"There are fears that theaters could be flooded with phone calls and inquiries, creating a disturbance," the distributor said.

Earlier, at least five theaters scrapped plans to screen the documentary. Argo Pictures said that it had been looking for new cinemas to screen the film, and later found 21 cinemas that could screen it starting in early May. The names of the theaters are expected to be announced in late April.

Ten organizations including the Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association and the Directors Guild of Japan sent letters of support and encouragement to Argo Pictures, the company said.

"We will step up our efforts so that this film is released without problems and people can see it," a company representative said.

On Friday, Matsumoto Cinema Select, a nonprofit organization in Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, announced that it would screen "Yasukuni" in the city in August.

"We decided to screen it in December last year," the organization's director said. "We will go ahead with the screening as long as there are no major incidents."

Copyright 2005-2006 THE MAINICHI NEWSPAPERS. All rights reserved. Mainichi features the best news in Japan, current news in Japan, Japan news in English, Japan business news, Tokyo Japan news, and Japan entertainment news. Mainichi News is syndicated in accordance with editorial regulations: personal and noncommercial purposes.

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