Japan’s Imperial Theatre to close for a while in 2025

The Yomiuri Shimbun

12:38 JST, October 13, 2022

Toho Co. announced on Sept. 27 that the Imperial Theatre in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, will temporarily close in 2025 due to a redevelopment plan that includes the building.

The theater opened in 1911 as Japan’s first full-fledged Western-style grand theater.

It became a theater directly operated by Toho in 1940. It closed temporarily after the end of World War II and reopened in its current building in 1966.

Over the years, the theater has put on such major titles as “Les Miserables” and “Miss Saigon.”

This year the theater attracted large audiences for the stage production of “Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi” (“Spirited Away”), which is based on Hayao Miyazaki’s animated movie. In 2023, the theater will present a stage production of “Kingdom” based on the popular manga.