Tour to DISCOVER

For Tokyo Festival 2024, we will be offering tour programs for visitors from overseas and people whose native language is English, Korean, or Chinese. We hope you can join us.

Tour participants will receive a specially made novelty gift!

• English

On this tour, participants take a wagon taxi around the famous Tokyo sites providing the setting for “Sannin Kichisa” and the temples linked to the play before watching the show at Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre. Seeing the play after experiencing the historical context of the work and the cultural background of the Edo period will likely leave a deeper impression.

Click here for the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre Presents Kinoshita-Kabuki “Sannin Kichisa Kuruwa no Hatsugai” program page

Monday (holiday), Sep. 16, 2024 9:00 a.m. – (JST)
Monday (holiday), Sep. 23, 2024 9:00 a.m. – (JST)
Sunday, Sep. 29, 2024 9:00 a.m. – (JST)

• Running time: 9 hours
  (approx. 2 hr wagon taxi tour, 1.5 hr lunch break, 5.5 hrs from theater admission through performance/scheduled to finish around 6:00 p.m.)
• Tour start time: 9:00 a.m. (Performance starts 1:00 p.m., 3 acts/2 breaks)
• Meeting place: JR Ryogoku station, West Exit
• Fee: 15,000 yen (tax included)

• The tour will be conducted entirely in English.
• You will not be able to join the tour if you are ten minutes or more late for the tour start time.
• The tour cost includes the ticket price for a General S seat for Kinoshita-Kabuki “Sannin Kichisa Kuruwa no Hatsugai.”
• The following items are not included in the tour fee and will be at your own expense:
  ・Transportation costs to the meeting place
  ・Lunch expenses (only guidance to lunch venues will be provided)
• The shuttle vehicle and its costs during the tour will be covered by the organizer.
• The tour route and details may change due to unavoidable circumstances such as traffic conditions and the weather.
• Please wear comfortable shoes as you will be going up and down stairs.

• The play will be performed in Japanese. Portable subtitle devices in English are available to rent for the performance.
• Preschool children are not allowed to attend the performance. They can participate in the shuttle tour, but we ask that you use the childcare services at Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre when attending the performance.

Before the performance, a lecture will provide not only the details and storyline of the work but also its background and concept, as well as a detailed look at other topics including Tokyo Festival and Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre. English subtitles (portable subtitle devices or English surtitles on the stage) are available for the performance after the lecture.

• English

Kinoshita-Kabuki is one of Japan’s leading companies specializing in contemporary productions of Kabuki plays. Now the company is staging the masterpiece set in Edo and written by legendary Kabuki dramatist Mokuami Kawatake in the turbulent late Edo period. Kawatake has been described as the “Shakespeare of our time and our country” by critic Shoyo Tsubouchi.

Click here for the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre Presents Kinoshita-Kabuki “Sannin Kichisa Kuruwa no Hatsugai” program page

Tuesday, Sep. 17, 2024 12:00 p.m. (JST) –
Friday, Sep. 20, 2024 12:00 p.m. (JST) –
Thursday, Sep. 26, 2024 12:00 p.m. (JST) –

• Running time: 6 hrs
  (lecture of approx. 30 mins, 5.5 hrs from theater admission through performance/scheduled to finish around 6:00 p.m.)
• Tour start time: 12:00 p.m.
  Performance starts 1:00 p.m. (3 acts/2 breaks)
• Meeting place: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre 1st floor
• Fee: 11,000 yen (tax included)

• The tour cost includes the ticket price for a General S seat for Kinoshita-Kabuki “Sannin Kichisa Kuruwa no Hatsugai.”
• You will not be able to join the tour if you are ten minutes or more late for the tour start time.
• The lecture will be conducted entirely in English. Programs in English will also be given out.

• The work will be performed in Japanese.
• Portable subtitle devices in English are available to rent for the performance.
• Preschool children are not allowed to attend the performance. If only a parent or guardian is attending the performance, please use Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre’s childcare program .
• Swing actor performance on September 26th. Please see the program page for details.

• English

chelfitsch is a theater company led by one of Japan’s leading artists Toshiki Okada, appointed as the next Artistic Director of Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre and of Tokyo Festival. chelfitsch’s latest work, this music theater production, is a collaboration with the well-known composer of contemporary music, Dai Fujikura and created under commission by Wiener Festwochen. Audiences can enjoy a fusion of live performance of contemporary music by Ensemble Nomad and a unique literary theater.

Click here for the chelfitsch & Dai Fujikura with Ensemble Nomad “Metamorphosis of a Living Room” program page

Wednesday, Sep. 25, 2024 6:00 p.m. (JST) –
Saturday, Sep. 28, 2024 6:00 p.m. (JST) –

• Running time: 2.5 hours
  (lecture of approx. 30 mins, 2 hrs from theater admission through performance/scheduled to finish around 8:30 p.m.)
• Tour start time: 6:00 p.m.
  Performance starts 7:00 p.m.
• Meeting place: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre 1st floor
  Fee:
  General seat/7,500 yen (tax included)
  29 and under/5,000 yen (tax included)

• The tour cost includes the ticket price (unreserved seats) for chelfitsch & Dai Fujikura with Ensemble Nomad “Metamorphosis of a Living Room.”
• You will not be able to join the tour if you are ten minutes or more late for the tour start time.
• The lecture will be conducted entirely in English. Programs in English will also be given out.

• The work will be performed in Japanese. English surtitles will be displayed above the stage.
• Preschool children are prohibited from attending the performance. Parents/guardians attending the performance by themselves should use childcare programs or similar during the performance.

• English

NORUHA is a young theater enterprise at the forefront of the next generation of theater professionals. The group’s signature work “Virtual Disorder” received great acclaim when it premiered in 2022. Based on the Japanese traditional performing arts pieces, the Kyogen “Natorigawa” and the Noh “Funa Benkei,”the work questions contemporary identities. A not-to-be-missed work depicting the “disorder” of stories in an age where everything is virtual that includes ghosts, loss of the self, and hidden desires.

Click here for the NORUHA “Virtual Disorder” program page

Thursday, Sep. 19 2024 6:00 p.m. (JST)-

• Running time: 2.5 hours
  (lecture of approx. 30 mins, 2 hrs from theater admission through performance/scheduled to finish around 8:30 p.m.)
• Tour start time: 6:00 p.m.
  Performance starts 7:00 p.m.
• Meeting place: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre 1st floor
• Fee:
  General seat/4,500 yen (tax included)
  29 and under/3,500 yen (tax included)

• The tour cost includes the ticket price (unreserved seats) for NORUHA “Virtual Disorder”.
• You will not be able to join the tour if you are ten minutes or more late for the tour start time.
• The lecture will be conducted entirely in English. Programs in English will also be given out.

• The work will be performed in Japanese. English surtitles will be displayed above the stage.
• Preschool children are not allowed to attend the performance. If only a parent or guardian is attending the performance, please use Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre’s childcare program .
• Please note this work contains the following expressions/depictions:
  • Expressions/depictions suggestive of physical violence/suicide
  • Scenes with firecrackers and actual smoking

• English
• Korean
• Chinese

CONDORS, a leading Japanese dance company led by Ryohei Kondo, is giving an outdoor performance at GLOBAL RING THEATRE. The company is set to deliver a wave of dance in a performance that everyone can enjoy, and which encompasses the streets of Tokyo and the audience. In a rest/recreation area filled with tables, chairs, and food trucks, audiences can enjoy an exciting festival vibe and CONDORS’ concentrated style of entertainment.

Click here for the CONDORS ‘Outdoor Performance “Let’s Turn the Table”’ program page

Saturday, Sep. 21 2024 3:00 p.m. (JST) –
Sunday, Sep. 22 2024 3:00 p.m. (JST) –

• Running time: 1.5 hours (lecture of approx. 30 mins, 1 hr from theater admission through performance/scheduled to finish around 4:30 p.m.)
• Tour start time: 3:00 p.m.
  Performance starts 4:00 p.m.
• Meeting place: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre 1st floor
• Fee: 1,500 yen (tax included)

• You will not be able to join the tour if you are ten minutes or more late for the tour start time.
• The work will be performed in Japanese.
• The lecture will be conducted in English, Korean and Chinese. Programs in each language will also be given out.
• Preschool children can participate in the tour for free.

• English
• Korean
• Chinese

Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre is located in front of Tokyo’s Ikebukuro station. Tour guides and guide-interpreters for each language will walk participants around inside the theater, introducing special features of each hall and the history of the building, as well as inside stories. Join a guide to explore the theater’s varied attractions, which can’t be experienced just by watching a performance from a seat in the audience.

Friday, Sep. 27 2024 4:00 p.m. (JST) – /English and Chinese
Sunday, Sep. 29 2024 10:00 a.m. (JST) – /English and Korean

• Running time: Approx. 1 hour
• Meeting place: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre 1st floor
• Fee: 500 yen (tax included)

• You will not be able to join the tour if you are ten minutes or more late for the tour start time.
• Please wear comfortable shoes as you will be going go up and down stairs.
• The tour route and details may change due to unavoidable circumstances.

• Before joining a tour, please be sure to check notes and the latest information on the web page for each production.
• If you would like to store luggage/personal items during the tour, please let us know at the time of application.
• Please be sure to read the tour details in the tour application section.

Inquiry about tours:
JTB Communication Design, Inc.
Email: tokyo-festival2024@jtbcom.co.jp

Tokyo Festival Information Center – HIROBA

Period:
Thursday, Sep. 19 – Sunday, Sep. 29, 2024 *Tuesday, Sep.24: Close 12:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. (JST)
Venue:Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, Lower Plaza
Language:Japanese/English/Easy Japanese
Fee: free

Stop by in front of the stage
Tokyo Festival Information Space “Hiroba”
The Tokyo Festival Information Center – HIROBA, an information space where you can discover the appeal of the festival’s programs, will be open during the festival period! In addition to introducing information about the performances and their highlights in an exhibition format, there will also be a wealth of content, including talk events and workshops! You can look at stage photos that can only be seen here and let your imagination run wild, immerse yourself in related books such as play collections, or get engrossed in a workshop. A place like a “plaza” will appear at the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, perfect as a place to rest before or after a performance. If you drop in casually, you might have an unexpected encounter with a play!

Read more

Tokyo Festival Information Center – HIROBA – Transit Kitchen

period:
Thursday, September 19th, 2024 to Sunday, September 29th, 11:30-19:30 *Closed on Tuesday, September 24th and Wednesday, September 25th
Location:Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre Front entrance of the theatre
language:Japanese/English/Easy Japanese

Information center to transit to the world of the stage, though enjoy it with your five senses.
Tokyo Festival Information Center HIROBA【TRANSIT KITCHEN】will be open during the festival term!
People are able to get information as well as enjoy a variety of festival-inspired events, such as collaborative meals, live performances, DJing, and public art created by different artists.
Why don’t we jump into the world of the stage from your five senses?

Read more

Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre opened in October 1990 as a base to promote and globalize arts and culture by and for Tokyo residents. The distinctive exterior of the building, designed by leading Japanese architect Yoshinobu Ashihara, is a popular and familiar Nishi-Ikebukuro district landmark. The theater underwent a complete renovation in 2012, and still attracts a great number of arts aficionados today.
The theater features a Concert Hall designed exclusively for classical music and boasting one of the world’s largest pipe organs, as well as a Playhouse, Theatre East, and Theatre West for performances of theater and dance. It is also equipped with four exhibition spaces, meeting rooms of different sizes, and rehearsal rooms. As a multi-purpose cultural facility accommodating creative activities beyond performance, the theater also hosts exhibitions, lectures, workshops and more, while consistently offering cutting-edge music and stage productions.

Now in its ninth year, Tokyo Festival is a comprehensive urban arts festival held every fall around Tokyo’s Ikebukuro area which aims to connect with the world through Tokyo’s rich and diverse arts and culture scene. While showcasing the appeal of Tokyo’s arts and culture in an easy-to-understand manner, at the same time the festival aims to enhance Tokyo’s own creative capabilities.
Tokyo Festival 2024 will focus once again on the unique appeal of performing arts, an area which generates diverse values when numerous people visit theaters, engage in dialog, and exchange ideas. Under the theme“Transit NOW:Swing by the Stage,”the festival will provide a forum enabling everyone to take part with ease in this celebration of the performing arts.

Tour to DISCOVER Key Visual: Nanami Ishihara
Tour to DISCOVER Leaflet Design: Shoko Mitsuma
Multilingual Flyer Design: Yuta Nakajima (YUTA Design Studio)
Document design for lectures: Yuuri Mikami
Assistant Inbound Project Coordinator: Kiyo Kamisawa
Tour Guides of Explore Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre Tour: Kazuki
Nakamura,Yoshika Sekine,Hideyuki Nakano,Kaoru Nakamura
Chinese Translation Support: Li Muyun
Tour production and operation: Rieko Nakazawa,Naoko Funayama,Yae Shirai,Kiyoko Odayama,Ryoko Kono (JTB Communication Design, Inc.)
National Government Licensed Guide Interpreter: Megumi Ohsuka,Masako Kawai,Machiko Machida,Cui Longwen ,Chien Jie Ling
Organizer: Tokyo Festival Executive Committee [Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture (Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre & Arts Council Tokyo) Tokyo Metropolitan Government] / Japan Arts Council / Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan
Sponsored by Asahi Group Japan, Ltd
Commission: Japan Cultural Expo 2.0 in the Fiscal Year 2024
Endorsed by Toshima city