New National Theatre

The New National Theatre Tokyo in Shibuya, opened in 1997, is Japan's first state theatre for opera, ballet and contemporary dance. Until then Japan had rich kabuki, noh and bunraku traditions but no state-funded venue for Western lyric theatre; the NNTT closed that gap and still houses the country's only independent ballet company. The complex contains three halls of different size, a costume hire service and a specialist library. Architect Takahiko Yanagisawa's building uses a cool limestone courtyard as its entrance plaza, in sharp contrast to the blinking high-rises of the surrounding Hatsudai business district. A training programme for young singers and dancers is also run on site.