Opera japonica/Tokyo Opera Venues

Theatrical companies and their venues are operated independently in Japan. Only the New National Theatre owns its own operahouse. Other local companies, and visiting foreign companies, hire theatres on a production by production basis. Large visiting companies from western Europe have tended to use NHK Hall and Tokyo Bunka Kaikan. Smaller visiting companies, many of them from eastern Europe, have used Bunkamura or Tokyo Bunka Kaikan. Local companies use the New National Theatre, or Bunkamura, or Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, but not NHK Hall.

Only the main venues are listed below. Tokyo (alone) is said to have 62 halls and theatres where opera may be performed. Of these 25 have over 1,000 seats. Most of these are modern, well-equipped, with good acoustics, and are seriously under-utilized!

Bunkamura

2-24-1 Dogenzaka, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150

Admin. phone: (+81 3) 3477 9111

E-mail: bunkamura@nihon.or.jp

Website (in Japanese and English): www.nihon.or.jp/bunkamura

Built: 1989

Number of seats: 2150 (Orchard Hall) 747 (Theatre Cocoon)

Wheelchair spaces (12)

Ticket Centre open: 10.00-19.00

Ticket Centre phone service 10.00 to 17.30: (+81 3) 3477 9999

Location and access: Behind the main branch of the Tokyu department store (to which it is connected) in Shibuya. Shibuya subway and train stations.

Comments: Arts complex with two theatres, gallery, shops and restaurants. Belongs to the railway and department store company Tokyu. Sponsors one opera production each year. Acoustics in Orchard Hall are far from perfect. Publishes detailed three-month performance schedules in English.

New National Theatre, Tokyo

1-1-1 Honmachi, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 151-0071

Admin. phone: (+81 3) 5351 3011

Website (in Japanese and English): www.nntt.jac.go.jp

Built: 1997

Number of seats: 1814 (Opera House), 1038 (Play House), 468 (The Pit)

Wheelchair spaces: 8 (Opera House), 8 (Play House)

General Box office: (+81 3) 5352 9999

The Atre Members Box Office: (toll free) 0120 489459

Location and access: On the west side of Shinjuku. One minute from Hatsudai Station (Keio New Line) central exit.

Comments: Excellent acoustics. State-of-the-art gadgetry. Excellent, and very large, backstage facilities. Rather sombre interior to the Opera House, better ambience in the medium-sized Play House.

[See also information in Tokyo Opera Companies]

NHK Hall

2-2-1 Jinnan, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo

Admin. phone: (+81 3) 3465 1751

Built: 1973

Capacity: 3677 seats

Location and access: Beside Yoyogi Park in Shibuya. Shibuya subway and train stations.

Comments: Belongs to the Japanese public radio and TV broadcasting company. Traditional location for grand opera in Tokyo. Variable acoustics.

Suntory Hall

1-13-1 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-8403

Admin. phone: (+81 3) 3505 1001

Website (in Japanese and English): www.suntory.co.jp/suntoryhall

Built: 1986

Number of Seats: 2006 (Large hall) 368 (Small hall)

Ticket Centre/Information: 3584 9999

Location and access: In the Akasaka Ark Hills building complex. Tameike-Sanno Station (Ginza/Namboku Lines) is about 7 minutes away.

Comments: Tokyo's premier concert hall run by the large drinks and beverages company. Excellent acoustics. Management is professional but very formal. They sponsor a series of semi-staged opera production called 'Hall Opera'. Publishes detailed three-month performance schedules in English.

Tokyo Bunka Kaikan

5-45 Ueno Koen, Taito-ku, Tokyo

Admin. phone: (+81 3) 3828 2111

Built: 1961, renovated 1998-9

Number of seats: 2303 (Large Hall), 649 (Small Hall)

Wheelchair spaces: 14 (Large Hall), 4 (Small Hall)

Phone booking: (+81 3) 3824 7003 and (+81 3) 5815 5452

Location and access: In Ueno Park, opposite the upper exit of Ueno Station (JR)

Comments: Also known as the Metropolitan Festival Hall. For many years, this has been used for smaller opera productions, particularly of foreign touring companies, and for ballet. The front of house is well-designed and the acoustics are excellent in all sections. Unfortunately the backstage area is very small with appreciable space only available on stage right. The kind of set changing done at the New National Theatre or the Aichi Prefectural Art Theatre is impossible here.

Tokyo Bunka Kaikan was closed for 14 months (the beginning of April 1998 to the end of May 1999) and it was assumed that structural alterations were in progress, but the theatre re-opened without any having been apparently made. Management is by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, with no public relations staff and minimal staff. Unlike privately-run venues such as Bunkamura and Suntory Hall, it relies on hiring companies to do their own publicity.

Tokyo Opera City

3-20-2 Nishi Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 163-14

Admin phone 5353-0788

Fax 5353-0777

Website (Japanese only): www.operacity-arts.co.jp

Cultural Foundation Website (in Japanese and English): www.tokyooperacity-cf.or.jp

Built 1997

Number of seats: approximately 2000 (Concert Hall)

Ticket Centre: 5353 9999

Location and access: Immediately next to the New National Theatre. On the west side of Shinjuku. One minute from Hatsudai Station (Keio New Line) central exit.

Comments: Curously there is no operahouse in Opera City, but there is a concert hall dedicated to the composer Takemitsu Toru and a Recital Hall. Also a 54 storey office building. Responsibility for running the Concert hall (and gallery) lies with the Tokyo Opera City Cultural Foundation

Outside Tokyo

Aichi Arts Center, Nagoya

1-13-2 Higashi Sakuracho, Higashi-ku, Nagoya 461-8525, Japan

Admin. phone: 052 971 5511

Fax: 052 971 5601

Website (in Japanese and English): www.aac.pref.aichi.jp/english

Built: 1992

Number of seats: 2476 (Aichi Prefectural Art Theater)

Wheelchair spaces: 8 (Aichi Prefectural Art Theater)

Booking Office open: 10.00-19.00 (weekdays) 10.00-18.00 (weekends and holidays)

Closed Mondays (or the following day if Monday is a national holiday)

Booking Office phone: 052 972 0430

Location and access: At Sakae, two stops from Nagoya Station on the Higashiyama Line.

Comments: The Aichi Prefectural Art Theater in the Aichi Arts Center was Japan's first fully equipped modern theatre. It is still probably the best organized. The website has substantial information in English though like many other Japanese sites it is encumbered by graphics and is slow and difficult to navigate. Full diagrams of the facilities are available (in pdf format) at www.aac.pref.aichi.jp/english/gekijyo/shiryou/bh_syou.html

Size of the stage: The total stage and backstage area is about 2,000 square metres of which the main stage itself is 680 sq. m (width 29m, depth 23.5m). The width of the proscenium arch is 14.7 to 18.2m, and its height is 6.5 to 12m.

Biwako Hall, Otsu, Shiga Prefecture

15-1 Uchidehama, Otsu-shi, Shiga 520-0806

Admin. phone: 077 523 7133

Fax: 077 523 7147

Website (in Japanese and English): www.biwako-hall.or.jp/e

Built: 1998

Number of seats: 1848 (Main Theatre)

Wheelchair spaces: 16 (Main Theatre)

Booking Office phone: 077 523 7136

Location and access: Seven minutes by train from Kyoto

Comments: Beautiful location on Lake Biwa. Opened by the Bologna Opera in September 1998. Motto (sic): 'Let arts be your wings'.

Size of the stage: The width of the proscenium arch is 21.5 m, and its height is 12.5 to 15.5 m.

Kanagawa Kenmin Hall, Yokohama

3-1 Yamashita-cho, Naka-ku, Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture

Admin. phone: (+81 45) 662 5901

Built: 1975

Number of seats: 2460 (Large Hall) 433 seats (Small Hall)

Standing places: 50 (Large Hall)

Wheelchair spaces: 8 (Large Hall)

Phone booking: (+81 45) 662 8866

Access: By the waterfront Yamashita Park. Fifteen-minute walk from Kannai Station (JR)

Comments: The main hall for Yokohama, but also used by many people from Tokyo when tickets are unobtainable at more central venues. The hall can be reached in less than an hour from Shibuya Station (Tokyo).

Opera japonica 9/12/2001