Sony Music Solutions Inc., which operates the paid video-streaming and e-ticketing platform app Stagecrowd, will begin streaming the immersive theater The Six Shadows from October 1, 2026.
KYOTO NIPPON FESTIVAL 2026 — Beyond Time, A Garden in Full Bloom, produced by Mika Ninagawa with EiM, ran at Kitano Tenmangu Shrine, the head shrine of all Tenmangu shrines nationwide, from February 1 to May 24, 2026.
KYOTO NIPPON FESTIVAL began in 2016 as a festival sending Japan's "beauty" and "culture" out from Kyoto to the world. Marking its 10th anniversary in 2026, this edition brought together a creative team of specialists across fields under the name EiM, led by artist Mika Ninagawa and Hiroaki Miyata, who also served as a themed-event producer for Expo 2025 Osaka-Kansai.
Within the festival, the immersive theater The Six Shadows, a collaboration between dance company DAZZLE and Mika Ninagawa with EiM, ran at Fūgetsu-den, Kitano Tenmangu Shrine, from March 20 (special site: https://hanayoi-no-daichakai.com). The story is based on the "Kitano Ōchanoyu," a grand tea gathering held at Kitano Tenmangu Shrine on October 1, 1587, and more than 400 years later, on October 1, 2026, it has been decided that the production will stream online via Stagecrowd.
Streaming Overview
Production: Immersive Theater The Six Shadows
Tickets go on sale: September 18, 2026 (Friday) at 12:00 PM
Multi-angle streaming: October 1 (Thu), October 3 (Sat), October 4 (Sun) — ¥8,000 (tax included)
Viewers can switch freely among the 8 angles below during the same stream.
1. Arrogance (Shadow of Toyotomi Hideyoshi)
2. Jealousy (Shadow of Murasaki Shikibu)
3. Emptiness (Shadow of Sei Shōnagon)
4. Falsehood (Shadow of Izumo no Okuni)
5. Suspicion (Shadow of Hijikata Toshizō)
6. Shame (Shadow of Fujiwara no Tokihira)
7. The Plum Blossom Petitioner (Presence of Sugawara no Michizane)
8. The Wind Guide
Solo-angle streaming: October 5 (Mon) to October 18 (Sun), two-week unlimited viewing — ¥2,500 (tax included)
Only a single angle is available with this option.
Domestic
Sales page: https://stagecrowd.live/hanayoino_daichakai/
Inquiries: https://stagecrowd.live/inquiry_hanayoino_daichakai/
International
Sales page: https://intl.stagecrowd.live/thegranden_teaceremony_athanayoi/
Inquiries: https://intl.stagecrowd.live/inquiry_thegranden_teaceremony_athanayoi/
The Six Shadows Overlapping the History of Kitano Tenmangu Shrine
Kitano Tenmangu Shrine, which enshrines Sugawara no Michizane, known as the deity of scholarship, is the head shrine of all Tenmangu shrines nationwide and has received the prayers of people since the Heian period. It was also the stage for the "Kitano Ōchanoyu," one of the largest tea gatherings in history, held by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in 1587, and in the early Edo period Izumo no Okuni, the founder of Kabuki, performed dance here. This space, where prayer and festivity, faith and performing arts have long overlapped, itself becomes an important stage device in this production. The story is based on the "Kitano Ōchanoyu" that Hideyoshi held at Kitano Tenmangu Shrine, a tea gathering that became a symbol of Japanese cultural history in which people of every standing — daimyo, townspeople, and tea masters alike — shared the same tea space. The Six Shadows grew from the idea, "What if the Kitano Ōchanoyu had had a phantom second day?"
The story features historical figures connected to Kitano Tenmangu Shrine, including Sugawara no Michizane, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Murasaki Shikibu, and Hijikata Toshizō. Rather than appearing as mere historical figures, they are portrayed as "shadows" of inner human emotion — jealousy, regret, loneliness, arrogance. These "shadow" emotions, difficult to reveal openly in society, are released within the open, classless space of the tea gathering, eventually converging with the waka poem Sugawara no Michizane composed upon his exile, entrusting his prayer to a plum tree: "When the east wind blows, send forth your fragrance, blossoms of the plum; do not forget the spring, even with your master gone."
Visitors are not spectators but guests invited to the tea gathering. Moments arise where their eyes meet a performer's, or a teacup is offered directly to them, and the audience's own actions change the atmosphere of the space. The experience differs depending on whom a visitor follows or where they choose to stand, so even the same performance yields a different story for each person. Rather than watching from a distance, the audience steps into the story as characters themselves, reliving the "shadow" emotions everyone carries as their own.
Mika Ninagawa with EiM's Vivid World of Color at the Historic Kitano Tenmangu Shrine
The spatial direction is handled by EiM, the creative team led by photographer, filmmaker, and contemporary artist Mika Ninagawa. Mika Ninagawa with EiM has previously developed "art you experience," such as art installations in museums and exhibition spaces.
This time, immersion goes further than simply "experiencing a space," deepening into a "story experience" in which the audience enters as one of the characters. Beyond handling the spatial direction, Hiroaki Miyata took on concept-making, developed the script together with Mika Ninagawa and DAZZLE, and even directed the performances — a new challenge that further expands EiM's range of expression.
The spaces where the performance unfolds are each composed to symbolize the characters' emotions, with floral and lighting direction creating an experience that feels like stepping into a film through Mika Ninagawa's vivid colors. Rather than a stage built for theater, the piece takes place within the historic architecture of Kitano Tenmangu Shrine, so the atmosphere of its wooden buildings and elements found nowhere else become part of the work itself, giving the audience an experience of stepping into historical time rather than simply watching a performance.
Performance by Dance Company DAZZLE
This is a non-verbal performance without dialogue, in which DAZZLE, a dance company that has led Japan's immersive theater scene, portrays emotion and story through physical expression alone. The audience experiences an intensely physical immersion, feeling the performers' breath, bodily energy, and the tension of the space at close range.
Stepping Into the Story With One's Whole Body: A Roaming Experience. What Is Immersive Theater?
Immersive theater is a form of performance in which the audience steps into the space of the story rather than watching the stage from their seats. It originated in London in the 2000s and spread worldwide, centered on New York, in the 2010s.
Its characteristics are: audiences move freely through the space (a roaming format); the experience changes depending on which character one follows; and even the same performance becomes a different story for each audience member. Where traditional theater is a "watching experience," immersive theater is an "experience of stepping into the story." In recent years, in the worlds of art and entertainment, the value of physically "experiencing" something has come to be emphasized even more than intellectually "understanding" it, and immersive theater, which invites audiences to step into a story with their whole body, has drawn attention as a symbolic expression of this shift.
Mika Ninagawa / Photographer, Filmmaker, Contemporary Artist
Working primarily in photography, she also creates films, video works, and spatial installations. She is also active as a member of the creative team EiM.
She has received numerous awards, including the Kimura Ihei Photography Award, and published a photo book with Rizzoli in New York in 2010. She has directed five feature films, including Helter Skelter (2012) and Diner (2019), and the Netflix original drama FOLLOWERS (2020).
She has published more than 120 photo books and held over 150 solo exhibitions and 130 group exhibitions in Japan and abroad. Her solo exhibition "Mika Ninagawa: Eternity in a Moment" (TOKYO NODE, December 2023 to February 2024) drew 250,000 visitors, and the following exhibition, "Mika Ninagawa with EiM: Light of the Other Shore, Shadow of This Shore" (Kyoto City Kyocera Museum of Art, January to March 2025), also drew 250,000 visitors. Her latest photo books are VIRA (bookshop M Co., Ltd., 2026) and mirror, mirror, mirror (afumi inc., 2026).
Hiroaki Miyata / Scientist, Executive Director
Professor at Keio University School of Medicine. Based in data science, he works across diverse fields including healthcare, policy, and social design as a scientist envisioning the future of people and society. Through practices that connect scientific intelligence with expressive sensibility, he collaborates across a wide range of fields. Within the creative team EiM (Eternity in a Moment), he serves as Executive Director.
At the 2025 Japan World Exposition (Expo 2025 Osaka-Kansai), he served as a themed-event producer and built the Better Co-Being Pavilion. As an artist, he exhibited the work "共鳴の空," and, as Hiroaki Miyata with EiM, "最大多様の最大幸福."
At the Co-innovation University, set to open in 2026, he will serve as president overseeing the overall vision, and will supervise the campus design together with architect Sou Fujimoto. Underlying his activities is a consistent philosophy — the vision of Better Co-Being — that diverse beings resonate with one another to create the future together.
Creative Team EiM
A creative team formed by photographer, filmmaker, and contemporary artist Mika Ninagawa; scientist and executive director Hiroaki Miyata; production designer ENZO; creative director Isao Kuwana; lighting director 上野甲子朗; music producer 剣持学人; technical art director Shinya Ueda; director Masayuki Sawada; video director ZUMI; communication designer Saori Kiryu; and video director 名児耶洋, among others. The team assembles a different lineup for each project.
Notable works include "胡蝶の旅 Embracing Lights" (Appi Art Project, 2022); Mika Ninagawa's "Zanshō / Eternity in a Moment" (Tomio Koyama Gallery Maebashi, 2023); "Mika Ninagawa: Eternity in a Moment" (TOKYO NODE, 2023 to 2024); "Mika Ninagawa with EiM: 儚くも煌めく境界" (Hirosaki Museum of Contemporary Art, 2024); "深淵に宿る彼岸の夢" (Forest Art Festival, Hareno-kuni Okayama, Maki Cave, 2024); "Mika Ninagawa with EiM: Dancing with Shadow in the Light" (Nanjo Art Museum, 2024); and "Mika Ninagawa with EiM: Light of the Other Shore, Shadow of This Shore" (Kyoto City Kyocera Museum of Art, 2025).
DAZZLE
A dance company formed in 1996, known for highly original works that fuse street dance with contemporary dance. Since 2017, the company has presented a series of immersive theater productions, and it has also performed at Expo 2025 Osaka-Kansai (EXPO 2025).
September 5, 2025: opening stage of the OSAKA JAPAN SDGs Forum (SDGs National Forum 2025)
October 7 to 8, 2025: "DANCE DRAMA 'Breakthrough Journey'"
This December, Hiroaki Miyata and DAZZLE will once again join forces on the immersive theater "百年目の晩餐 LONGING," exploring life's longings through a single dish.
https://tokyoimmersivedining.com/
Kitano Tenmangu Shrine
Kitano Tenmangu Shrine enshrines Sugawara no Michizane (Kanko) and is the head shrine of approximately 12,000 Tenmangu and Tenjin shrines nationwide. Known since ancient times as "Kitano no Tenjin-sama," it is widely worshipped for entrance exam success, academic achievement, culture and the arts, and protection against misfortune.
KYOTO NIPPON FESTIVAL 2026 — Beyond Time, A Garden in Full Bloom — Overview
Dates:
Installations "Garden of Light and Flowers" and "Zanshō": February 1 (Sun) to May 24 (Sun), 2026
Immersive theater The Six Shadows: March 20 (Fri/Holiday) to May 24 (Sun), 2026 — performance length approximately 70 minutes
Venue: Kitano Tenmangu Shrine (Bakuro-cho, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto 602-8386)
Organizers: KYOTO NIPPON FESTIVAL Executive Committee / The Kyoto Shimbun / Kitano Tenmangu Shrine
Sponsors: JTB Corp. / eplus Inc.
Support: Kyoto Prefecture / Kyoto Prefectural Tourism Federation / Kyoto City / Kyoto City Tourism Association / Kyoto Traditional Performing Arts Foundation (Ookini Foundation)
Cooperation: FM802 / FM COCOLO
Equipment cooperation: SONY
Official website: https://kyoto-nippon-festival.com/
Social media: Official X: https://x.com/kyotonipponfes / Official Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kyotonipponfes/ (#KNF2026)
