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Theater and Sports - Tokyo Hotels .com

When you're in Tokyo, you'll have plenty of opportunities to take a seat and enjoy the show. From the 600-year-old tradition of Noh theater (Yokohama Noh-gaku-do) to America's favorite pastime, baseball, Tokyo is a vibrant mecca for spectator culture. This vast metropolis (one of the world's largest) is packed with impressive theaters for performing arts, music and sports.

Known as The New York Yankees of Japan for their enormous popularity and success, the Yomiuri Giants are the oldest professional sports team in the country. Making their home at the Tokyo Dome in Bunkyo, the Giants are one of two Central League baseball teams in Tokyo (along with the Yakult Swallows).

The ancient tradition of sumo wrestling is alive in Ryogoku (Ueno-Asakusa-Ryogoku), where many of the Sumo wrestlers (rikishi) live, train, and compete. Visitors can experience the rituals and excitement of three of the six six annual sumo competitions, the Hon-Basho Sumo Tournaments, here at the indoor sporting arena Ryogoku Kokugikan with 10,000 other sumo fans.

Sumo isn't the only way to feel transported back in time in Tokyo. The classic musical drama of Noh has been performed in Japan since the 14th century, and continues to be the focus at Tokyo's oldest theater, the Yokohama Noh-gaku-do. Kabuki, easily recognized for its dramatic style, music, and make-up worn by its performers, is performed in theaters throughout Tokyo, including the Kabuki-za in Ginza. Here, and at Shinbashi Embujo, kabuki productions are also super-sized for "Super-Kabuki at the Super Kabuki Theater, which may involve fireworks, acrobatics, and flying. Shinbashi Embujo is also the host to many other productions as well, such as comedies, dramatic plays and musicals.

And at the Tokyo Opera City Hall, with its spectaculr bright oak interior, soaring pyramid-shaped walls, and glass skylight, it almost doesn't matter which classical music event you're interested in -- the venue itself is a thing of beauty to behold. Not far from the Imperial Palace in Chiyoda, the National Theatre of Japan incorporates three halls, presenting everything from Japanese puppet theater (Bunraku) to kabuki, storytelling (Rakugo) to stand-up comedy (Manzai).