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Resources > New National Theatre Tokyo

posted on

06 Sep 2010

New National Theatre Tokyo

The New National Theatre Tokyo (NNTT) is Japan's national theatre dedicated to the performing arts of opera, ballet, dance and drama. Since its inception in 1997, the NNTT has presented world-class performances both in and outside of Japan, and has come to occupy a familiar and much-loved place in the nation's cultural life.

The NNTT comprises the Opera House (known as Opera Palace), Playhouse and The Pit, each of which uniquely contributes to an annual total of about 300 stage performances for approximately 200,000 theatregoers, including many from overseas. Furthermore, by providing other theatre groups with a performance venue, the NNTT contributes to the development of the stage arts in Japan, such performances numbering around 150 a year, and attended by over 100,000 people.

Performance opportunities are not limited to the venue of the NNTT. The theatre is constantly active in staging productions, by itself or in collaboration with others, at theatre venues throughout Japan and overseas. In recent years, international cultural exchange has reached new heights, and as such the NNTT's importance has increasingly grown as a base in Japan for furthering the reach of such cultural endeavours.

The NNTT is currently involved in an educational programme for high school students for opera appreciation, ballet for children, and numerous other initiatives to provide the younger generation with opportunities to encounter the performing arts.