Page 149 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Tokyo

ENTER T AINMENT IN T OK Y O  147

Live Music come alive. Club Quattro can
The finest venues for orchestral be claustrophobic but gets top
concerts are the New National international acts; Duo Music
Theater, Suntory Hall, NHK Hall, Exchange and O-West often
Orchard Hall in Bunka mura (see specialize in techno and J-pop.
p68), Sumida Triphony Hall, Eggman and the ever-eclectic
and the two halls of the Tokyo SuperDeluxe showcase experi-
International Forum (see p45). mental, fringe, and upcoming
The New National Theater and talent. Live bands also play at
Orchard Hall also stage opera many of the Irish pubs as well
and ballet performances. as the Pink Cow, a casual, artsy
Tokyo has a vibrant jazz scene hangout, popular with expats.
too, reflected in the large number
of clubs and the quality of the
Yebisu Garden Cinema, a popular cinema visiting artists. Blue Note Tokyo is Karaoke
hall for foreign films the best-known club (although The boom for belting out
prices are high and sets are popular hits to backing music
advanced digital technology. short). Other places that attract tracks dates from the 1960s but
The more centrally located Toho world-class perfor mers include remains as popular as ever
Cinemas Chanter shows art- B Flat, Shinjuku Pit Inn, and today in Japan, the birth-
house and independent films. the Cotton Club. Billboard place of
Marunouchi Piccadilly, in the Live offers an eclectic mix karaoke. Trans-
Mullion Building in Yurakucho of music, with mostly lated as “empty
(see p40), has five screens, while Japanese artists. Blues orchestra,” karaoke
Yebisu Garden Cinema (see p78) Alley Japan is a small is enjoyed in tradi-
has two. Currently, the most club featuring blues tional bars, lively
comfortable cinema in the city and jazz artists. pubs, at home, and in
is at the nine-screen complex Ever since the major enter tainment
in Roppongi Hills (see p71), part Beatles played at dis tricts, at karaoke
of the Toho Cinema group, Nippon Budokan “boxes.” These compl exes
with an in-house bar and in 1966, Tokyo has range from small, cozy
late-night screenings. been an essential rooms for couples to much
Anyone with an interest in stop on the world larger spaces for
classic Japanese cinema should itinerary of pop and Street musician giving groups of friends or
visit the superb National Film rock bands. Both a live performance of fice parties. Food
Center (see p44). Fans of ani- the aging Budokan and drinks can be
mation should visit Ghibli and the cavern ous Tokyo Dome ordered. The most perfor med
Museum; it displays the work sta dium have poor acoustics. numbers are local pop songs,
of pioneering anime director Smaller and far better venues current and classic; enka, the
Hayao Miyazaki, whose films include the inconveniently Japan ese equivalent of French
include Spirited Away (2001) located Zepp Tokyo, Nakano chanson; and some Western pop
and Howl’s Moving Castle (2004). Sun Plaza, and Liquid Room. hits. Karaoke-kan in Shibuya
Womb hosts international (see pp68–9) is the famed
superstars such as the Chemical location used in the movie Lost
International Theater Brothers and Paul Oakenfold. As in Translation. For the best selec-
The international theater with jazz, though, it is the more tion of songs in English follow
scene in Tokyo encompasses intimate venues where gigs the expats to Smash Hits.
everything from Shakespeare
and Broadway musicals to
comedy, classical ballet, and
modern dance. The main ven-
ues are in Shinjuku, Shibuya,
and Marunouchi. Although
some foreign tour ing comp-
anies come through Tokyo,
most shows are in Japanese,
with local actors of a consist-
ently high standard. The Tokyo
Comedy Store offers non-
Japanese and Japanese the
chance to exhibit their comedy
skills in English on the fourth
Friday of the month at the
Crocodile club in Harajuku. An extravagant opera performance in New National Theater

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