Japanese Brunch

Following a welcoming address from the Japanese Ambassador to Germany, Mitsuko Shino, Yusuke Hashimoto will speak about the Berliner Festspiele’s special focus in their anniversary year on performative and musical arts from Japan. He will also present introductions to the two guest productions Planet [wanderer] by Damien Jalet and Kohei Nawa and 2020 by Dumb Type that can be experienced as part of the Performing Arts Season 2026/27.

Winrich Hopp speaks about the special guest performance of the Kanze Noh Theater from Tokyo, visiting Musikfest Berlin 2026 as part of its European tour. With Kiyokazu Kanze – the 26th grand master of the Kanze School – as its lead actor, the company will present three works of classical Noh theatre at the Philharmonie Berlin: the two Noh dramas Hagoromo and Shakkyō, as well as the Kyōgen comedy Kaki Yamabushi. The traditional Japanese theatre form emerged around 700 years ago and is regarded as one of the oldest in the world. With its visual language, its sense of sound and its (musical) dramaturgy, Noh theatre has exerted a strong influence on European contemporary music.

Akira Takayama will explain the underlying concepts behind his experimental theatre work and the urban art project What If Berlin, for which the Japanese theatre maker invites the public to take a trip on the Berlin Ringbahn. On four weekends he will organise “guided tours” of the 27 S-Bahn stations which he proposes to activate by realising a site-specific artistic project for each one.

The Berliner Festspiele’s co-operation partner for Focus Japan is the Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz with two new productions and a guest performance. The partnership events include two works by Satoko Ichihara: the new production Mononoke, which will premiere on 3 October and represents the Japanese author and director’s first work for a German theatre, and the production Yoroboshi, which will make a guest appearance at the Volksbühne in Spring 2027. At the Japanese Brunch the dramaturg Helena Eckert will offer some insights into Ichihara’s working method and the conceptual ideas behind Mononoke.