Honda Gekijo is the 386-seat theater that made Shimokitazawa Japan’s small-theater capital. The actor Honda Kazuo opened it in 1982 after converting an apartment building into the Suzunari theater a few years earlier, and the two stages gave the “small theater” movement of the 1980s a home within walking distance of a hundred cheap bars. Today the Honda group runs eight venues in the neighborhood, and the theater crowds are why Shimokita’s restaurants are full on a Tuesday.
Even without the language, a show here is worth it for the atmosphere: 400 people in a room, no microphones, a cast that drinks across the road afterward. Check the schedule for dance, physical theater or the February festival, and book early.
Tips
- Tickets are 4,000–7,000 yen and sell out for well-known troupes; try the box office on the day for returns
- Most productions are in Japanese; physical comedy and dance pieces are the easiest to follow
- The Honda group runs eight smaller theaters around the station, including the Suzunari, a converted apartment block