Kanda Myojin has stood in the heart of Tokyo for some 1,300 years. Locals come to pray for business luck; after dark, its grounds host THE SHOW — a stage production of samurai sword fighting, ninja action, traditional dance, and Japanese music, served alongside dinner or drinks.
Booking is simple: pick a Dinner Package or a Drinks Package, then choose Front Row or Standard seating.
With the dinner package, each guest selects their own main course at booking. The lineup changes with the seasons, but typically includes beef sukiyaki, chicken shabu-shabu, seared rare tuna steak, and a vegetarian hot pot — so a table of four can happily order four different meals.
The drinks package comes with one drink, and you can upgrade to all-you-can-drink at booking if you'd rather settle in for the evening.
Doors open at 7:00 PM, giving you plenty of time to eat and drink before the lights go down. The performance starts around 8:15 and runs about an hour. Food and drink service ends before the show begins, so nothing gets between you and the stage.
There's no dialogue to follow — the whole production was built with international guests in mind, so it works just as well if you don't speak a word of Japanese. Front Row puts you close enough to catch every expression; Standard seats still have a clear view of the full stage.
Photography isn't allowed during the performance, but don't put your camera away just yet. After the final bow, the cast comes out to meet the audience, chat, and pose for photos — and for many guests, that turns out to be the highlight of the night.
And then there's the setting itself. Watching a modern stage production inside the grounds of a shrine older than the city around it is the kind of contrast you only get in Tokyo.
If you've already done the temples and the observation decks and want an evening that goes a step further, this is a good pick: dinner, a show, and 1,300 years of history, all in one stop.