National Noh Theatre

The National Noh Theatre in Tokyo's Sendagaya neighborhood, a short walk from Sendagaya Station and the Olympic Stadium, opened in 1983 as the state-funded home of Noh and Kyogen drama. The stage is built to ancient specifications in Japanese hinoki cypress: a square playing area framed by four pillars, a painted pine tree backdrop and the angled hashigakari bridge that delivers actors from the dressing room. In the 591-seat hall, seating, stage and acoustics are calibrated so that the quiet mae-jite cries and drum strikes carry to the back row without amplification. Noh and the comic Kyogen interludes were inscribed on UNESCO's intangible heritage list in 2008. The theatre offers English subtitles via tablet and regular introduction evenings for first-time visitors.