The story
In February 1968, Hiroshi Kawai left Bandai to establish his own toy business. Kawai founded Tōshō Co., Ltd. (有限会社トウショウ, Yūgen-gaisha Tōshō) on June 7, 1969. In September 1972, it changed its name to Tōshō Corporation (株式会社トウショウ, Kabushiki-gaisha Tōshō).
Tōshō merged with two other companies, Dairin Inc. (株式会社ダイリン, Kabushiki-gaisha Dairin) and Seikō Inc. (株式会社セイコー, Kabushiki-gaisha Seikō), to form Happinet in October 1991. In November 1994, Bandai acquired shares of Happinet. Happinet first appeared on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in December 1998.
Happinet acquired Beam Entertainment and its adult label, Green Bunny, in December 1999. It renamed the division Happinet Pictures Corporation (株式会社ハピネット・ピクチャーズ, Kabushikigaisha Hapinetto Pikuchāzu) in July 2002.
In October 2023, Happinet became the Japanese film distributor for A24. Happinet has also been the exclusive manufacturer and seller of home video releases in Japan for Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan since May 1, 2024 and Walt Disney Japan since the following October 1. Since July 1, 2025, similar deals with NBCUniversal Entertainment Japan, Warner Bros. Japan and Paramount Pictures International went into effect.
From Wikipedia’s article on Happinet, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4