A new night musical featuring traditional and modern Japanese culture has opened in the central Tokyo district of Nihonbashi. Sakura: Japan in the Box blends performances of classical dance and Japanese instruments with pop music, martial arts, acrobatics and animation to tell the story of a high school girl’s journey through Japan’s four seasons.
Host theatre company Meijiza Co. created the 70-minute performance specifically to attract overseas tourists, with support from the Arts Council Tokyo.
Hiroya Kimikawa, spokesperson of Meijiza, said the company is working with travel agents abroad to promote the show and develop packages, including those for corporate groups.
Since the musical debuted on September 7, the largest corporate group the theatre has welcomed is a 180-pax group from China.
Kimikawa explained that Meiji-za Theatre has 140 years of hosting traditional performances such as kabuki, the classical Japanese dance and drama, and Sakura: Japan in the Box is a selection of “the best parts of that heritage (with the addition of) pop culture, creating something that overseas tourists would find easy to understand and enjoy.”
Using mostly movement and music, rather than dialogue, to drive the narrative, the show has an app that displays the song lyrics in English, Chinese or Korean.
Sakura: Japan in the Box is scheduled to perform at Meiji-za Theatre most nights until 2020 and costs 6,000 yen (US$58.60) per person.
