Why is it being rebuilt?

The National Theater first opened in 1966.
It became a centerpiece of performances to preserve and transmit traditional performing arts such as Kabuki, Bunraku puppet theater, and Nihon Buyo.

The facility’s large theater has a 20-meter rotating stage and 16 hatches that can be adapted for various plays, allowing for dynamic performances.

A stage device weighing around 300 tons and extending up to 13 meters is installed under the stage to move the rotating stage and raise the hatches.

The device is the heart of the theater. But it had been used for more than half a century and developed cracks due to wear and tear.

When the theater closed in October 2023, the equipment often failed, so its repair was long awaited.

Stalled reconstruction

The original plan was to rebuild the theater as part of a multi-use complex that would include high-benefit facilities such as a hotel and offices. Demolition was scheduled to begin in the spring of this year and construction in the fall of 2025, with the goal of reopening in the fiscal year ending in March 2030.

But the tender for the project, which was held amid rising construction prices, failed twice: in 2022 and 2023.

As a result, the project team announced in August that it would remove high-benefit facilities as a necessary condition for reconstruction and revise the plan. The team added that it wants to move forward with the process as soon as possible.

Regular fans stay away

After the theater closed, performances were held at other venues in Tokyo.

But it is difficult to use these spaces for a long time, as was possible in the National Theater.

The number of performance runs was 29 in the fiscal year ending March 2019, before any impact from the Covid-19 pandemic. But this number is expected to drop to 12 in fiscal year 2024.

Regular fans seem to drift away as venues change with each race, causing concern.

Hasegawa Mariko, president of the Japan Arts Council, a group that runs the National Theatre, says this can be avoidable to some extent.

“But as the performance venues will change, we would like to take this opportunity to attract new fans,” he added.

“I want us to see the things we can’t do, not as disadvantages, but to transform them into ideas and innovation.”

Artists worried about an uncertain future

Nihon Buyo artists worry that the theater’s prolonged closure will lead to the decline of traditional culture.

Nihon Buyo is based on Kabuki techniques and presents elements of traditional Japanese culture such as beauty, space and shadow, and wabi, the taste for simplicity and tranquility.

The National Theater was the best stage for Nihon Buyo artists, but now they have lost opportunities to perform.

Hanayagi Juraku, a Nihon Buyo performer, says the impact could be wide-ranging.

“When we couldn’t perform due to the coronavirus, we were worried about when the situation would end. There is also no prospect of reopening the National Theater,” he said.

“I don’t know how to keep fighting or how to hold on. The makers of our costumes, wigs and accessories will also be forced to give up if they don’t have work.”

Nihon Buyo dancers currently perform in places where the stage structure is different, so they need to change the composition of their dance. That even includes how to start and end.

Hanayagi says they haven’t been able to perform the same as before and hopes the theater will reopen as soon as possible.

“Last year we fulfilled our great wish when Nihon Buyo was designated as an important intangible cultural asset, and was expected to gain momentum, but now the National Theater, which had everything we needed, is closed. Performing on stage, we received reactions from the fans, and that is necessary for us to improve our art. I hope that soon we can secure a place where we can perform our dance properly.