Ginza & Tsukiji
The flamboyant facade of this venerable theatre is fitting for the extravagant dramatic flourishes that are integral to the traditional performing art of…
Must-see entertainment in Tokyo
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Shinjuku & Northwest Tokyo
This is Tokyo's best jazz spot: intimate, unpretentious and with an always solid line-up of influential, avant-garde, crossover and up-and-coming…
Asakusa & Sumida River
If you’re in town when a tournament is on, don't miss the chance to catch the big boys of Japanese wrestling in action at the country's largest sumo…
Roppongi, Akasaka & Around
Japan's most important theatre for traditional performing arts stages kabuki, gagaku (music of the imperial court), kyōmai (Kyoto-style traditional dance)…
Kōrakuen & Akihabara
Tokyo Dome (aka ‘The Big Egg’) is home to the Yomiuri Giants. They're the most consistently successful team in Japanese baseball.
Shinjuku & Northwest Tokyo
This is Tokyo’s premier public performing-arts centre, with state-of-the-art stages for drama, opera and dance. The plays are in Japanese and the operas…
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Ueno & Yanesen
The Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra and the Tokyo Ballet both make regular appearances at this Ueno-kōen landmark, designed by Maekawa Kunio, an…
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Shinjuku & Northwest Tokyo
This Kabukichō spectacle has hit it big with its vision of 'wacky Japan': bikini-clad women ride around on giant robots against a backdrop of animated…
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Tokyo
This chic lounge stages short acts (40 minutes) of traditional Japanese performing arts, including nō, kagura (sacred dance) and Kyo-mai (Kyoto-style…
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Tokyo
Sumo wrestlers live and practice in a heya (somewhat weirdly translated as 'stable'). Only some allow visitors to watch keiko (practice) and then…
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Harajuku & Aoyama
Jingū Baseball Stadium, built in 1926, is home to the Yakult Swallows, Tokyo’s number-two team (but number-one when it comes to fan loyalty; Swallows fans…
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Tokyo
Named for the infamous 1960s London spot, Kōenji's UFO Club is committed to keeping the spirit of the era alive: the small basement space, with red-and…
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Kōrakuen & Akihabara
The girl group Kamen Joshi – singing and dancing young women wearing cute outfits and full-face hockey masks – is all the rage at this live-music show in…
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Ginza & Tsukiji
If you love camp, this is for you. The all-female Takarazuka revue, going back to 1914, stages highly stylised musicals in Japanese (English synopses are…
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Tokyo
The 14,000-plus-seat Budōkan was originally built for the judo competition of the 1964 Olympics (budō means 'martial arts') and will be pressed into…
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Asakusa & Sumida River
Oiwake is one of Tokyo's few remaining minyō izakaya, pubs where traditional folk music is performed. It's a small, cosy place, where the waitstaff and…
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Roppongi, Akasaka & Around
One of Tokyo's nicest and biggest cinemas (it has nine screens, some with 3D and 4D capability), Toho's Roppongi Hills theatre screens all the latest…
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Kōrakuen & Akihabara
Not as red-hot as they once were, this J-pop phenomenon girl group of 60 rotating members continues to perform in shifts at its very own workhouse…er…
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Shibuya & Shimo-Kitazawa
Watching indies here feels a bit like hanging out in a friend's basement; with just 40 comfy, mismatched seats, Uplink is officially Tokyo's smallest…
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Harajuku & Aoyama
This is Japan's only national theatre devoted to nō, a centuries' old mode of performing arts. It has a classically elegant, sparse cypress stage;…
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Shibuya & Shimo-Kitazawa
Billing itself as 'Booze & Jazz since 1975', Lady Jane is a Shimo-Kitazawa landmark, with a polished, vintage interior of dark wood and moody lighting. On…
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Shibuya & Shimo-Kitazawa
Setagaya Public Theatre, comprising a main stage and the smaller, more experimental Theatre Tram, is the city's top venue for contemporary drama and dance…
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Tokyo
Underground venue for avant-garde performances, often dance, including butō (a Japanese form of contemporary dance). Shows are irregular. Book tickets…
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Harajuku & Aoyama
Decked out in neon, mirrors and chrome, Crocodile is a classic dive. Live music of all sorts plays here nightly (from rock to reggae to Latin), but the…
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Shibuya & Shimo-Kitazawa
In a former art-house cinema with the tell-tale tiered floor (but not the seats) still intact, this is one of those rare venues where you could turn up…
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Shibuya & Shimo-Kitazawa
This small venue attracts a more grown-up, artsy crowd than the club’s location – in the heart of Shibuya – might lead you to expect. There’s no explicit…
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Harajuku & Aoyama
Like sister clubs in New York and Milan, Blue Note Tokyo books the biggest international names in jazz, as well as local talent. This is a well-heeled…
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Tokyo
This is an attractive, intimate venue, sunk deep so the ceiling feels refreshingly high for a Tokyo basement venue. The line-up is jazz, but that's a wide…
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Asakusa & Sumida River
Asakusa was once full of theatres like this one, where traditional rakugo (comedic monologues) and other forms of comedy are performed. There are also…
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Shibuya & Shimo-Kitazawa
We love Three's mission to make live music more accessible in Tokyo: it hosts 10 free events a month (otherwise they average around ¥2000). The line-up is…
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Ginza & Tsukiji
This venerable group specialising in nō dramas relocated to the bowels of the Ginza Six shopping complex in 2017. The theatre seats 48; if you haven't…
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Shinjuku & Northwest Tokyo
This beautiful, oak-panelled, A-frame concert hall, with legendary acoustics, hosts the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra among other well-regarded ensembles…
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Tokyo University of the Arts Performing Arts Center
Ueno & Yanesen
With its stage dominated by a French Garnier Organ and a ceiling that can be moved to create optimum acoustics, the university's intimate hall is a superb…
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Tokyo
You’re more likely to hear contemporary international jazz stars here than musicians harking back to the 1920s New York club it honours. Also on the…
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Tokyo
This practice and performance space is run by one of Japan's most active butō (a contemporary dance style) troupes, Dairakudakan ('Big Camel Ship'). It's…
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Kōrakuen & Akihabara
In the basement of a building with a guitar shop and recording studios, this small venue (capacity 230) is a long-running favourite with Tokyo's indie…
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Roppongi, Akasaka & Around
As well as live performances and a variety of Japanese and international acts, this 920-seat capacity theatre is also used for drama, musicals and as a…
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Roppongi, Akasaka & Around
This glitzy amphitheatre-like space plays host to major foreign talent as well as Japanese jazz, soul and rock groups who all come in to shake the rafters…
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Roppongi, Akasaka & Around
This hip jazz club often features local and European talent, as well as healthy doses of Latin jazz. Shows start at 7.30pm and 9.15pm.
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Shinjuku & Northwest Tokyo
This is one of the very few remaining yose (vaudeville) theatres in Tokyo. Shows feature over a dozen acts, many of which are rakugo (comedic monologue)…
