Best Sound Design Studios in Tokyo (2026)

Introduction

Tokyo’s sound work is spread across long-running recording houses, film studios and post groups, and the 7 studios below cover audio post, dubbing, anime sound and music for picture. Most of them handle several of those jobs under one roof, which suits projects that move from music recording to the final mix.

Recent investment has gone into immersive formats and anime. Toho and Dolby announced in September 2025 a Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos post facility at Toho Studios in Seijo, with opening targeted for December 2025. Imagica Entertainment Media Services announced a dedicated animation sound base in Nishi-Shinjuku, with phased operation from February 2026. In August 2026 Tohokushinsha signed a partnership with Deluxe to expand localisation work across Asia-Pacific.

Every studio here has a Tokyo facility shown on a page checked in November 2026. The list was chosen for the range and specification of those facilities and for named credits where studios publish them. It runs in no fixed order of merit, because a commercial MA session and a theatrical Atmos mix call for different rooms.

The best sound design studios in Tokyo

1. Onkio Haus

Magazine House group company · Ginza · onkio.co.jp

Onkio Haus opened in Ginza in 1974 and added video post-production in 1979. It now runs recording studios, dubbing rooms, MA rooms and edit suites in Ginza, along with the MA and edit rooms at Studio Endeavour in Shinbashi, a business it took over in 2024. Studio 7 handles Dolby Atmos and Sony 360 Reality Audio. Edit 5 reopened as a colour-capable room in May 2026.

Its music credits include the main theme to Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, and its film and anime work includes music recording for Suzume and music mixing for A Whisker Away. The Dolby Atmos release of Uta’s Songs One Piece Film Red was mixed in Studio 7. For commercials, the same building offers MA, subtitle creation and online delivery of TV spots, so a single job can stay in one place through to delivery.

2. Imagica Entertainment Media Services

IMAGICA GROUP · Tsukiji and Nishi-Shinjuku · imagica-ems.co.jp

Imagica EMS is a wholly owned subsidiary of IMAGICA GROUP, spun off in April 2021. It covers film and drama post, DCP creation, subtitling and dubbing, and anime post-production. Its 2026 job listings name the Shiodome Sound Studio in Tsukiji, the Takeshiba Media Studio and the Nishi-Shinjuku Studio as workplaces.

The Nishi-Shinjuku site was planned around anime, with three post-recording booths (one able to record in 5.1), two offline and two online edit rooms, and security built to streaming-platform requirements. The location puts it close to the animation studios around Nakano. The company also offers 5.1 mixing and Dolby Atmos Home mastering at its dubbing studio, which helps when picture editing, sound and localisation need to sit with one supplier.

3. Toho Studios

TOHO · Seijo · tohostudio.jp

Toho Studios runs a Post-Production Center in Seijo built around theatrical sound. Toho describes Dubbing Stage 1 as the first building in Japan designed from scratch for multichannel recording, with design input from Warner Bros. Studio and acoustic design by Charles M. Salter Associates. The Audio Suite, completed in January 2021, has a Dolby Atmos Renderer, and the centre’s site lists ADR, foley, MA and sound design rooms.

Godzilla Minus One and Demon Slayer The Movie Infinity Castle were both released in Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos through the collaboration between Toho and Dolby that began in 2019. The studio also welcomes international crews filming in Japan, and it suits feature work that needs a theatrical mix.

4. Glovision

KADOKAWA Group · Shinjuku and Kudan · glovision.co.jp

Glovision produces Japanese-language versions of foreign films and overseas drama, along with anime sound, subtitling and audiobooks. It is part of the KADOKAWA Group, with headquarters in Minami-motomachi, Shinjuku, and a studio in Kudan-kita, Chiyoda.

The studio list is unusually detailed. Studio 301 handles cinema Dolby Atmos and Atmos DCP playback on an Avid S6, Studio 201 handles home Atmos, Studio 204 is also Atmos-equipped, and most other audio rooms run 5.1 for post-recording and dubbing. Glovision reports Netflix Post Partner Program membership and a Trusted Partner Network Silver badge. It does not list titles on the pages checked here, so ask for credits in your genre.

5. Tohokushinsha

Listed · Akasaka · tfc.co.jp

Tohokushinsha Film Corporation is a listed production and post group based in Akasaka. Sound and subtitling form one of its business lines, including Japanese-dubbed versions and anime sound production. In August 2026 it signed a partnership with Deluxe to expand localisation in Asia-Pacific.

The wider group makes commercials as well, and it won in the film category and others at the 2026 ACC Tokyo Creativity Awards, announced in October. That breadth is the main reason to look here, since sound can be booked alongside production and editing. Ask which group company and which rooms will handle your mix.

6. Latina Fortis

Language and music production house · Setagaya and Chuo · latinacorp.com

Latina Fortis is a Tokyo company reporting more than 40 years in the business, working across words, music and visuals. Its head office and Studio B are in Hanegi, Setagaya, and Studio A in Minato, Chuo, handles sound recording and post-production. A third site, Studio C, is in Miyasaka, Setagaya. The company describes in-house MA studios and editing suites.

Its mix of services is the useful part for international clients: multilanguage translation and narration, composing and arranging, casting, remote international recording and overseas orchestra sessions. The site shows sample projects across TV commercials, drama and video games, including the game Battleland.

7. Victor Studio

Victor Entertainment · Jingumae · victorstudio.jp

Victor Studio is a music recording and mastering house in Jingumae, with nine recording rooms across two buildings and a staff of about two dozen recording engineers. Mastering runs under the FLAIR brand with six listed engineers. The archive team reports more than 50,000 tapes and 300,000 songs transferred to digital, a figure from 2021.

The studio suits music for picture more than effects or final mixes: scores, themes and catalogue material that needs transfer before a remaster. It publishes no project list, so ask for relevant credits. Studio fees were revised in March 2026, and it was hiring experienced recording assistants that May.

What to look for in a Tokyo sound design studio

Start with the deliverable, because rooms in Tokyo are specialised. A TV spot needs an MA room and reliable delivery to broadcasters, an anime series needs post-recording booths that fit a voice cast, and a theatrical feature needs a stage that behaves like a cinema. Ask to see the room your job will use, as several of these companies run a wide spread of specifications.

Check the Atmos specification closely. Home and cinema Atmos are different deliverables, and studios list them separately: Glovision’s Studio 301 handles cinema Atmos while its Studio 201 is set up for home. If your release may go both ways, confirm the plan for each master before the mix is booked.

For anime, dubbing and localisation, ask about casting and security together. Booth size limits how many voice actors can record at once, and streaming clients often require specific security standards for pre-release material. Imagica EMS built its Nishi-Shinjuku site with those requirements in mind, and Glovision reports partner badges that speak to them. Ask for the current status in writing, and ask your own legal or security team to confirm that it meets your contract.

Finally, ask how sessions, stems and notes move between you and the studio. Sound projects produce large session folders and several rounds of mix notes, often across Japanese and English. A clear folder structure, named versions and feedback pinned to a timecode save time during final mix and delivery.

How Fabric helps sound design teams

Fabric gives a sound team one workspace for session files, stems, reference material and client notes, with AI search across all of it. Audio work tends to leave files in several places, a pattern covered in your audio sessions are scattered. Fabric’s cloud drive streams files on demand, takes no local disk space and keeps shared team folders on the latest version.

Audio and video transcription covers WAV, MP3, M4A, MP4, MOV and WebM, and clickable timestamps lead back to the moment in the recording. Search works by meaning across those transcripts, documents and connected apps, which is useful for finding a line of dialogue or a director’s note from an earlier session.

Mix review runs through shared links. Share a file or folder with the client as a commenter, with no sign-up needed, and they can leave timestamped comments on audio and video, or add a drawing on a video frame with a comment. Comments on media can be marked completed, so a round of notes works like a checklist. There is more on this in review and approval.

For final delivery, any file or folder can be published as a web page, which is view-only with optional download. Add password protection for pre-release material and link analytics to see when each named recipient opened it. Fabric uses AES-256 encryption, holds CASA Tier 2 and does not use data to train AI models. Whether that meets a specific studio or platform requirement is a decision for your own security team.

Password protection and link analytics are included on Pro and Team plans, and self-writing docs, which keep a page for each client’s decisions and open items, are on Team plans from $125/month. See plans for teams.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best sound design studio in Tokyo?

There is no single answer, because the right studio depends on the job. Toho Studios is built around theatrical sound, Onkio Haus combines music recording with commercial MA, and Imagica EMS and Glovision have deep anime and dubbing capacity.

What does MA mean in Japanese post-production?

MA is the usual Japanese term for the audio post stage, where narration, dialogue, music and effects are mixed to picture. Commercial and broadcast jobs are normally booked by MA room, and Onkio Haus and Latina Fortis both list MA facilities.

Which Tokyo studios handle anime sound?

Imagica EMS opened a Nishi-Shinjuku site planned for anime sound, and Glovision and Tohokushinsha both list anime sound production as a business. Onkio Haus handles music recording and mixing on anime features. For the picture side, see our list of animation studios in Tokyo.

Which Tokyo studios offer Dolby Atmos?

Onkio Haus offers Atmos in Studio 7, Glovision in Studios 201, 204 and 301, and Toho Studios in its Audio Suite. Imagica EMS offers Dolby Atmos Home mastering. Confirm whether you need the home or cinema format, since only some of these rooms are set up for cinema.

Can overseas clients work with Tokyo sound studios?

Yes. Onkio Haus takes direct offers from overseas artists, Toho Studios welcomes international crews, and Latina Fortis offers multilanguage narration and remote international recording. Agree working language and file delivery at the start, since not every studio publishes full information in English.

Related lists

Sound design in other cities: New York · London · Los Angeles · Chicago · Toronto

More in Tokyo: Creative agencies · Post-production · Animation · Editing · Video production

Run your studio on Fabric: Fabric for music creators · Best cloud storage for music production · How to organise audio project files