UK arts events in Japan
Please note that, due to the rapidly changing COVID-19 coronavirus situation, all events are subject to cancellation or postponement. Please check event/organiser websites for the latest information.
007 Skyfall in Concert
Enjoy Thomas Newman’s Academy Award-winning soundtrack from the 2012 instalment of the James Bond franchise, Skyfall. Immerse yourself in the film as the soundtrack is performed live by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra while the action unfolds on the big screen.
Photo: SKYFALL LICENSED BY MGM. SKYFALL © 2012 DANJAQ & MGM. SKYFALL, 007 AND RELATED JAMES BOND
3-5-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku Tokyo 100-0005
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Violet
A multi-award-winning musical based on Doris Betts' short story “The Ugliest Pilgrim”. This joint production by the Charing Cross Theatre and the Umeda Arts Theater received good reviews for the performances held at the Charing Cross Theatre, London, between January and April 2019. Performances by a Japanese cast will be held in Tokyo in April.
1-8-1 Nishiikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo 171-0021
Small Island
Helen Edmunson’s stage adaptation of British author Andrea Levy’s book Small Island—featuring a company of 40 actors—is coming to Japan. Exploring the history of Jamaica and the UK during World War II, three stories intertwine in this critically praised play. Hortense yearns for a new life away from rural Jamaica, Gilbert dreams of becoming a lawyer and Queenie longs to escape her Lincolnshire roots.
Photo: Brinkhoff Moegenburg
2-3-1 Nihonbashimuromachi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 103-0022
Cine Libre, Ikebukuro
1-11-1 Nishiikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo 171-0021
Peter Doig
This is the first solo exhibition in Japan by contemporary Scottish painter Peter Doig, who has been called one of the most important artists in the world today. Inviting viewers on a journey of the imagination through painting, this exhibition covers the artist’s career from his early work to the latest masterpieces.
Photo: ©Peter Doig. Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of Anna Marie and Robert F. Shapiro in honor of Kynaston McShine, 2004. All rights reserved, DACS & JASPAR 2020 C3120, 2004 Oil on canvas 200 x 250.5 cm
3-1 Kitanomaru-koen, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-8322
Masterpieces from the National Gallery, London
For the first time in 200 years, the National Gallery, London, is allowing some of the works in its collection to be exhibited abroad. This collection of masterpieces represents an extremely rare opportunity to see 61 important works, such as Vincent van Gogh’s Sunflowers, Johannes Vermeer’s A Young Woman Seated at the Virginals and Rembrandt’s Self Portrait at the Age of 34.
Photo: ©The National Gallery, London. Bought, 1927
7-7 Ueno-koen, Taito-ku, Tokyo 110-0007
St David’s Day Buffet and Performance
Enjoy a traditional Welsh buffet in Tokyo to celebrate St David’s Day (1 March). Lunch will be followed by a special performance of My Body Welsh, a bilingual one-man play featuring Welsh actor Steffan Donnelly, who also wrote the play with Tara Robinson. Nominated for two Wales Theatre Awards in 2018, the play explores mysterious skeletons found at the bottom of a well. Photo: The Invertigo Theatre
Note: The venue and time have been updated.
(Entrance at 1:00pm)
Performance at 4:00pm
2-6-14 Akasaka, Tokyo 107-0052
Michael Kenna: Beyond Architecture
This engaging exhibition showcases the work of English-born photographer Michael Kenna. In his new book of the same title, Kenna—best known for his black-and-white landscapes that explore the relationship between nature and the structures that humans have placed on Earth—attempts to visualise the memories, traces and atmospheres that are present in human absence.
Photo: Long Wall, Berwick, Northumberland, England. 1991 © Michael Kenna/RAM
1-26-4, 3F Minamiaoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo 107-0062
Queen Exhibition: Bohemian Rhapsody
Celebrate Queen’s love affair with Japan and the special bond that has existed between Japanese fans and the legendary band since their arrival in Tokyo in April 1975. Rare and previously unseen historical items—including 11 original costumes shipped from Europe and a collection of never-before-seen photographs from the Shinko Music Publishing archive—will be on display.
Osaka: 25 March–6 April, Osaka Takashimaya S.C.
Nagoya: 18 April–10 May, Nagoya Matsuzakaya
Kenneth Macmillan’s Manon
One of Britain’s most defining ballets, Manon, by Sir Kenneth Macmillan, is based on Abbé Prévost’s 1731 novel Manon Lescaut. It follows the story of a young socialite who is caught between true love and her luxurious lifestyle. The ballet is notable for its complex and exciting choreography.
1-1-1 Honmachi, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 151-0071
Brit Floyd
Billed as “the world’s greatest Pink Floyd show,” Liverpool-based tribute band Brit Floyd returns to the stage to perform its new production Echoes 2020, which includes highlights from The Wall, The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals and The Division Bell. Also featured is a show-stopping, 23-minute, note-for-note performance of the iconic, era-defining “Echoes” to mark the song’s 50th anniversary.
1-1 Udagawacho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0042
Sunset Boulevard
A famous story of faded glory and unfulfilled ambition, the musical Sunset Boulevard is based on the 1950 Billy Wilder film of the same title. Featuring music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Sir Christopher Hampton CBE and Don Black OBE, this presentation will feature an all-Japanese cast.
5-3-5, Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-0005
Future and the Arts:
AI, Robotics, Cities, Life—
How Humanity Will Live Tomorrow
An international project supported in part by a grant from the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation, this exhibition comprises more than 100 works in five distinct sections. Themes include: neo-metabolism architecture; possible designs of future cities; lifestyle and design innovations; and the ethical issues of human augmentation.
Roppongi Hills Mori Tower 53F
6-10-1 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-6150
Every Brilliant Thing
This much-talked-about solo show, written jointly by the energetic British playwright Duncan Macmillan and actor Jonny Donahoe, is characterised by its distinctive, unique performance format in which the performer interacts with the audience to explore the brilliant things in life. It will have its Japanese-language premiere in a collaboration between Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre and Ryutopia Niigata City Performing Arts Centre.
Photo: Minna Hatinen
1-8-1 Nishi-Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo 171-0021
Edie
This film by Scottish director Simon Hunter stars English actress Sheila Hancock CBE and tells the story of an 83-year-old woman pursuing her lifelong dream of climbing Scotland’s Suilven mountain after the death of her husband. Edie won the Juried Narrative Prize at the Berkshire International Film Festival and the International Narrative Prize at the Cleveland International Film Festival in 2018.
4-4-5 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0061
(Also showing at other locations.)
Paul Galbraith
Internationally renowned Scottish guitarist Paul Galbraith will give a recital in Tokyo on the eight-string Brahms guitar, which he developed in 1994 together with David Rubio. The programme will include J.S. Bach’s Prelude, Fugue and Allegro in E-flat (BWV998), Scriabin’s 6 Preludes, as well as “Cataluña” and “Sevilla” from Albeniz’s Suite Española No. 1.
3-16-15 Sekiguchi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 112-0014