32 Best Performing Arts Venues in Japan

This theater's 50-minute performances sample five traditional disciplines: gagaku (court music), kyomai (Kyoto-style dance), Bunraku (puppet theater), kyogen (comic drama), and koto (Japanese harp). The theater seats only 165 people, so it feels fairly intimate; although this is definitely a tourist trap, it's also the only place to see these performing arts for most of year. The admission price is a bargain considering the number of talented artists involved. Premium seats offer added comfort and come with a digital tablet for translations and background information. In mid-March to November, shows are held nightly at 6 and 7; in December to mid-March, they are held Tuesday to Friday at 6 and 7.

From late April to November, there are excellent traditional dance performances at the Theater Ikor, such as "Dancing Under a Full Moon." The venue's seating faces a wall that's open to the outside, which gives the performances a dynamic, natural background. During the day, there are craft workshops available.

Eclectic performances at this artsy music venue range from Japanese rock to Korean and Japanese pop to visual-kei (visual-style) groups, who wear elaborate makeup and stage costumes.

Held the last weekend of October, this predominantly mainstream festival, which first started in 1995, takes places in some less-than-mainstream venues, ranging from a Shinto shrine to a Lutheran church. Fortunately, most venues are within walking distance of JR Asagaya Station. More than 200 bands and 1,300 musicians play, with previous headliners having included the Mike Price Jazz Quintet and pianist Yosuke Yamashita. The festival gets crowded, so come early to have a better chance at entry. Note: Outdoors events are free, but indoor events have a charge.

This three-story, city-run performance hall showcases classical music, ballet, opera, dance, and drama. Performances puppets, wind music, and Japanese Kabuki dance are especially interesting.

One of the best venues for art-house films in Japan screens independent European and Asian hits and small-scale Japanese movies. Directors and actors often appear on the stage, greeting fans on opening days. Occasionally Japanese films run with English subtitles, but ask ahead of time.

In the same complex as Gion Corner, this theater is used for special performances, most notably the spring and fall dances by maiko and geiko. Kyotoites feel that the season has truly arrived with the announcement of these shows.

This is one of Kyoto's oldest Noh schools. The libretto is all in Japanese, with only some information in English.

At one of the most important of Japan's Noh family schools, the current iemoto (head) is the 26th in his line. Kanze's stylish new theater is in the basement of the Ginza Six complex. English-language plot summaries are available upon request.

This theater presenting performances of the Kongo school of Noh drama was moved to this location on the former estate of an aristocrat. The architecture is completely modern, but the garden—there's a view of it from the lobby—is completely traditional. English translations of the librettos are often available.

The architect Isozaki Arata designed this complex that has a huge round glass facade and a spiral entrance walkway up to the 1,839-seat Main Hall, the home of the Kyoto Symphony Orchestra. Visiting orchestras and artists, including excellent ones unknown outside Asia, also perform here and in the 514-seat Ensemble Hall. Ask your concierge for a schedule. There's a restaurant on the ground floor.

The renovated Minami-za theater, the oldest in Japan, hosts Kabuki performances most of the year. Even the mounted posters announcing the plays here are beautifully rendered. The typical Kabuki performance can last up to four hours; there are two shows daily. Box lunches are the choice meal during a play so that one does not miss anything. Front downstairs seats are often occupied by the “who's who” of the world of maiko and geiko.

Theater fans won't want to miss the chance to see a performance at Osaka's National Bunraku Theatre. Bunraku is not your average puppet show: the 3-foot-tall puppets each require a trio of handlers, and the stories, mostly originating in Osaka, contain all the drama and tension (if not the sword fights) of a good samurai drama. The National Bunraku Theatre is Japan's premier place to watch this 300-year-old art form. An Earphone Guide (¥800 rental) explains the action in English as the play unfolds. Performances are usually twice daily (late morning and late afternoon) on weekends; tickets can be bought via the website. There is also a free museum inside.

One of the few public halls to host Noh performances provides basic English-language summaries of the plots at performances. Individual screens placed in front of each seat also give an English translation. There are other types of performances at the same theater, so check what is on.

With its 1,632-seat main auditorium, this venue nourishes Japan's fledgling efforts to make a name for itself in the world of opera and other performing arts. The Opera City Concert Hall has a massive pipe organ and hosts Tokyo's symphony, domestic and international visiting orchestras, and other performers. The complex also includes an art gallery.

The home base for the Japan Broadcasting Corporation's NHK Symphony Orchestra, known as N-Kyo, is probably the auditorium most familiar to Japanese lovers of classical music, as performances here are routinely rebroadcast on the national TV station. Other performances are held here, too, from professional acts to high school groups.

The maiko and geiko of the Ponto-cho district perform at this theater in spring and fall. Occasionally other dance performances are scheduled here.

With all the neon and flashes of light, this dance performance with dubious foundations in historical reality is outrageous in all the right ways. During breaks between acts, which can last a while, you can grab the food or the sake on offer, but you're likely better off doing so elsewhere before or after the show. Reservations can be made online or by phone.

Dating from 1925, this theater was built for the geisha of the Shimbashi quarter to present their spring and autumn performances of traditional music and dance. It remains one of the best spots in Tokyo to see traditional performing arts, although the theater is now also the home of "Super Kabuki," a faster, jazzier modern version of kabuki.

The Suigan offers a taste of traditional Japanese Noh and Kyogen plays and geisha performances over a full-course dinner or drinks. While Noh and Kyogen plays can often run hours and be difficult to comprehend, the short performances at Suigan focus on the climactic scenes and give explanations of the story and artistry of the performance. Tickets must be reserved in advance on the website.

Home to New Japan Philharmonic, the venue is mostly for Western classical music, chamber music, and piano recitals. It has many programs by amateur orchestras and ensembles, as well. The 1,800-seat hall is thought to have the best acoustics in Tokyo.

This lavishly appointed concert auditorium in the Ark Hills complex has probably the best acoustics in the city, and its great location allows theatergoers to extend their evening out: there's an abundance of great restaurants and bars nearby.

Japan's all-female theater troupe was founded in the Osaka suburb of Takarazuka in 1913 and has been going strong ever since. Today, it has not one but five companies, one of which (the Cosmos Troupe) has a permanent home in Tokyo at the 2,069-seat Takarazuka Theater. Same-day tickets are sold at the box office at either 9:30 am or 10 am. Advance tickets are available through ticketing agencies and the theater's website. Any remaining tickets are sold at the theater box office.

With a design that evokes images of the golden days of film, Toho's premier "movie palace" attempts to bring back the days when moviegoing was an experience. With an impressive lobby and one of the largest screens in Tokyo, it is one of the city's best movie theaters. Arrive a few minutes early to take in the impressive views looking out over Hibiya Park before your show.

This nine-screen complex has about 2,100 seats that include very comfortable, "first-class," VIP seats. It also has an extra-large screen and MediaMation MX4D technology. There are plenty of bars in the area for post-movie discussions. Late shows screen on weekends.

Since the 1960s and '70s, this hall has been an important venue for classical ballet, orchestral music, and visiting soloists.

A 45,852-seat sports arena, the dome also hosts big-name Japanese and international acts. Originally known as "Tokyo Big Egg," the stadium popularly serves as a shorthand unit of measure in Japan, as the size of any large structure might be gauged in terms of how many Tokyo Domes it equals.