Asakusa Public Hall

A public hall in Asakusa, Tokyo City, equipped with a main hall, meeting rooms, and an exhibition hall, where kabuki, yose (vaudeville), concerts, and local and school events are held. The venue is available for rental by individuals and groups, and annual events such as the “New Year Asakusa Kabuki” in January and the “Asakusa Performing Arts Awards” in March are held every year.

As a public facility, it is unusual in that a hanamichi (runway-style stage extension) can be installed in the large hall. Thanks to its Asakusa location and the availability of both Western-style and Japanese-style dressing rooms and meeting rooms, the venue is characterized by a large number of traditional Japanese performances such as kabuki and Japanese dance. Some audience members come dressed in kimono, allowing you to fully enjoy a distinctly Japanese atmosphere.

Support such as English subtitles may be available depending on the performance

Support for foreign languages varies depending on the organizer of each event. For kabuki performances, English subtitles and audio guides are often available, but since the arrangements are left entirely to the organizers and not handled by the public hall itself, please check the performance website or social media for details.

A theater with excellent access that can be enjoyed together with sightseeing

Located close to popular areas of Asakusa such as Senso-ji Temple and Nakamise, the venue offers excellent access: about a 5-minute walk from Asakusa Station on the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line and Tobu Railway, about a 7-minute walk from Asakusa Station on the Toei Asakusa Line, and about a 3-minute walk from Asakusa Station on the Tsukuba Express.

The street with the main entrance of the public hall is called “Orange Street,” and it features a wide variety of shops, from long-established businesses with over 100 years of history to up-and-coming new stores. Many shops allow you to observe artisans at work, so you can enjoy strolling around Asakusa and sightseeing in combination with attending a performance.

Plenty of attractions and ways to enjoy the venue beyond performances

In front of the main entrance is an area called the “Star Plaza,” where handprint reliefs and signatures of stars, mainly entertainers associated with Asakusa, are on display. About five new reliefs are added each year, and now many handprints can also be found on the sidewalks of “Orange Street” in front of the public hall.

Handprints from stars in a wide range of fields are displayed, including singers Hibari Misora, Saburo Kitajima, and Sachiko Kobayashi; kabuki actor Ichikawa Ennosuke III; actors Kiyoshi Atsumi, Ken Matsudaira, and Yuki Amami; rakugo storyteller Koshiro Shunputei; lyricist Rokusu Eien; comedy duos Knights and Bakusho Mondai; and voice actress Masako Nozawa.