What Is Immersive Theater? Trends and Major Productions in Japan in 2026, and the Situation Abroad

Immersive theater is a form of theater in which, rather than watching a stage from their seats, audiences experience the work by walking around the venue, following characters and getting involved in the story. Immersive Fort Tokyo, which opened in Odaiba, Tokyo, in March 2024, closed on February 28, 2026. In 2026, meanwhile, productions were staged around the country in hotels, city streets, a building awaiting demolition, a ferry and a shrine. Based on organizers’ official announcements, this article sorts out the characteristics of the form and the current state of major venues and productions in Japan and abroad.

The form is tied to how places are used. Immersive Fort Tokyo used about 30,000 m² of the former VenusFort. In 2026, productions spread to a former school site, the Iwanami Jimbocho Building, which is slated for demolition, and a ferry in service. Some productions were organized as part of Shizuoka Prefecture’s Suruga Bay Ferry Flow-of-People Creation Project, and others received grants from Arts Council Tokyo, so examples connected to local government projects and cultural policy are emerging.

The term is used broadly. Exhibitions that envelop spaces in video also call themselves “immersive,” and in 2025 the Tokyo National Museum opened an “Immersive Theater” using high-definition video. Video-centered venues are introduced in our explainer on what immersive art is. This article focuses on productions in which audiences walk through spaces where actors perform.

What is immersive theater? Audiences who walk, choose and get involved in the story

The essentials of the form come through in organizers’ descriptions. The UK-based company Punchdrunk describes its production “Sleep No More” as one in which audiences move freely through the story of Macbeth, forging their own path through a film noir world. The site of the McKittrick Hotel, the venue for the New York production, says that audiences decide where to go and what to see.

Japanese organizers make the same points. coly Inc., which produced performances based on the game “Promise of Wizard,” describes it as a format in which audiences move around the entire venue rather than watching a stage from their seats. Press materials for a production by the dance company DAZZLE cited three features: audiences roam freely through the space; the experience changes depending on which character one follows; and even the same performance becomes a different story for each audience member.

The audience’s role is also designed work by work. Before Immersive Fort Tokyo opened, Katana Inc. promoted a “total immersion experience” in which visitors throw themselves into worlds and incidents as participants, as if they were real. The production staged on the Suruga Bay Ferry said audiences would arrive at the ending through conversations with characters, investigations and missions. The Jimbocho production describes itself as a “walking TRPG experience” in which developments and endings change according to participants’ choices and actions.

Abroad: “Sleep No More” closes in New York, plays in Shanghai and Seoul

According to Punchdrunk, “Sleep No More” was first staged in London in 2003. In 2009, it was staged in Boston with the American Repertory Theater. The New York production was presented by Emursive, which owns the McKittrick Hotel, and according to the hotel’s site, it gave its final performance on January 5, 2025. Punchdrunk’s site gives the New York run as 2011–2025.

In Shanghai, a version co-produced by Punchdrunk International and SMG Live began in 2016. The venue is five floors of a newly built building in Shanghai’s Jing’an District, and the production information on Punchdrunk’s site gives the Shanghai run as “December 1, 2016 – August 31, 2029.”

In Seoul, a version co-produced with Ms. Jackson, Inc. has been added. Punchdrunk’s site gives the run as July 2025 – September 2026 and the running time as 120 minutes. According to the site of the venue, the McKithan Hotel (212 Toegye-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul), audiences are required to wear Punchdrunk masks, and the work is performed without dialogue.

A dedicated venue in Japan: Immersive Fort Tokyo’s two years

Immersive Fort Tokyo was opened by Katana Inc. on Friday, March 1, 2024, in Odaiba, Tokyo (Aomi, Koto-ku). Covering about 30,000 m², it occupied the 2nd and 3rd floors of the former VenusFort. Katana positioned it as a theme park made up solely of multiple immersive experiences centered on immersive theater, and as the first theme park it handled itself from planning and development through to operation.

In its December 2023 announcement of the opening date, Katana listed the large-scale immersive theater productions “The Sherlock: The Baker Street Murders” and “Edo Oiran Kitan” (Strange Tale of an Edo Courtesan). There were also “Jack the Ripper” and the immersive show restaurant “The Cabaret.” Experiences themed on anime and games were included too, such as an escape-style experience based on “Tokyo Revengers,” a rally experience based on “Oshi no Ko” and an action maze based on “Identity V.” On May 21, 2024, Katana announced that cumulative participants in “The Sherlock” were expected to exceed 50,000 by the end of May.

On December 25, 2025, Katana announced that the venue would close on Saturday, February 28, 2026. It explained that although it had shifted the business toward deeper experiences in the second year, it had judged the facility to be too large. The official website states that it held its grand finale on February 28, 2026. The announcement did not mention the site or any successor facility, saying the company would continue to take on the development of “immersive entertainment.” The openings and closures of immersive venues in Japan are traced in our timeline of immersive venues in Japan.

Major productions of 2026: hotels, city streets, a building, a ferry and a shrine

Productions in 2026 stand out for using real places outside theaters as their stages. Below are the main ones, based on organizers’ announcements.

Stay-in Theater “Moonlit Days” (HOTEL SHE, OSAKA, Osaka)

Suisei Inc.’s “Stay-in Theater” is immersive theater experienced while staying at an actual hotel. The entire hotel, including the lobby, guest rooms and corridors, serves as the venue, and actors perform the story as audiences move between floors. It is an overnight experience with no day option, with 30 guests to more than 10 performers. The company puts cumulative attendance for the series at more than 10,000.

In an October 2025 announcement, the new production “Moonlit Days” was scheduled to run from Saturday, January 17 to Monday, March 16, 2026, at HOTEL SHE, OSAKA in Minato-ku, Osaka.

“Honoakarido, the Pawnshop of Memories” (Kagurazaka, Tokyo)

Participants walk the streets of Kagurazaka carrying lanterns and, while listening to audio on the audio AR app Locatone, meet characters inspired by figures associated with Kagurazaka. It ran for 12 days, from Wednesday, April 22 to Sunday, May 3, 2026 (national holiday), with 90 performances in all. The venues were the “Former School Site Iidabashi” in Agebacho, Shinjuku-ku, and other facilities around Kagurazaka, with 24 participants per performance and a running time of about 110 minutes.

It was organized by Long Run Planning and NO MORE and planned by Mukeichokoku, with an Arts Council Tokyo grant for creating cultural appeal. Sony Marketing and SoVeC are credited with providing the system and production cooperation.

“Hanayoi no Daichakai” (Grand Tea Party on a Night of Blossoms) (Kitano Tenmangu Shrine, Kyoto)

“DAZZLE × Mika Ninagawa with EiM Immersive Performance: Hanayoi no Daichakai” was held at Kitano Tenmangu Shrine (Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto). It was scheduled to run from Friday, March 20 (national holiday) to Sunday, May 24, 2026 (with some days off), with a running time of about 70 minutes (planned). A nonverbal performance without dialogue, it treated visitors as guests invited to a tea party.

Part of the event KYOTO NIPPON FESTIVAL 2026, it was organized by the KYOTO NIPPON FESTIVAL Executive Committee, The Kyoto Shimbun and Kitano Tenmangu, with support from Kyoto Prefecture, the City of Kyoto, the Kyoto Prefecture Tourism Federation, the Kyoto City Tourism Association and others. DAZZLE is a dance company formed in 1996 that has presented immersive theater since 2017 (per the organizers).

“THE ROAD TO GOLD: Toward Treasure Yet Unseen” (Suruga Bay Ferry and elsewhere, Shizuoka)

A day-trip production that crosses from Shimizu Port to Toi Port on the Suruga Bay Ferry, visits the Toi Gold Mine and returns. Set aboard the ship (partly chartered), around Toi Port and at the Toi Gold Mine, it casts audiences as participants in a treasure hunt who talk with characters and take on investigations and missions. It takes about seven hours, with up to 60 participants per run, and the dates were announced as Saturday, June 20, Saturday, August 8, Sunday, August 9, Saturday, August 29 and Sunday, August 30, 2026.

Part of Shizuoka Prefecture’s fiscal 2026 Suruga Bay Ferry Flow-of-People Creation Project, it was overseen by SoftBank, with planning, sales and implementation by Origress. The Shizuoka Performing Arts Center (SPAC) took part in casting and directing the performers. It was sold as a packaged tour.

Worldline-Choice Game “Our Movie Theater” (Jimbocho, Tokyo)

The venue is the 10th floor of the Iwanami Jimbocho Building, completed in 1967 and slated for demolition. Participants walk through while listening to the cast’s voices, and developments and endings change according to their choices and actions. It was scheduled to run from Saturday, August 1 to Monday, August 31, 2026, with each session lasting about 70 minutes and up to 24 participants. It was organized by the Our Movie Theater 2026 Production Committee.

Immersive theater based on “Promise of Wizard” (Dance Hall Shinseiki)

Immersive theater based on coly Inc.’s game “Promise of Wizard” was staged in January 2026. The follow-up, “Immersive Theater ‘Promise of Wizard’: The Bracelet Waltz with Phantoms – Revival,” was scheduled for Friday, September 4 to Sunday, September 13, 2026. Audiences move around the venue as ball guests, apprentices or phantoms, and no ticket type includes a seat. It is co-organized and produced by coly and NO MORE.

“TOKYO Sakurada Familian DX” (Nerima, Tokyo; from November)

A production combining immersive theater, in which audiences enter the world of the story, with a “real-life anomaly-hunting game” in which they look for anomalies that have occurred in shops and streets. Since its premiere in February 2026, characters have been added and the script partly expanded, and it will be staged from Thursday, November 12 to Monday, November 23, 2026 (national holiday) at Tokyo Okappa-chan House (Kamishakujii, Nerima-ku). It is planned and produced by ESPACT and Maniana LLC.

“Immersive” at museums: video theaters

At museums, there have been cases of video screenings being called immersive theater. From Tuesday, March 25 to Sunday, August 3, 2025, the Tokyo National Museum held “Immersive Theater: Neo Japonism – From Jomon to Ukiyo-e and on to Anime –” in Special Exhibition Room 5 of the Honkan. Organized by the museum, NHK and NHK Promotions, it was billed as a theater bringing together NHK’s high-definition video and technology, with a notice that, as a video exhibition, no works were on display.

Editor’s perspective

Even under the same name, “immersive theater” ranges widely in content, from productions in which audiences walk through spaces where actors perform to video-centered screenings. There are also experiential events in which no actors perform live. At “VIVANT IMMERSIVE MISSION” in Kyobashi, visitors walk through a TV drama’s sets as recorded character voices respond to their actions. “Storydive Theater WAHHHP” in Shinjuku is a permanent theater where visitors wear VR headsets and walk through the story. Before going, it is worth checking the organizer’s information on whether actors appear, whether you walk through the venue, what the seating and running time are, and whether there are viewing rules such as wearing masks.

On the operational side, designing for scale is a key issue. Immersive Fort Tokyo, which placed multiple works across about 30,000 m², closed after about two years, having judged the facility to be too large. Productions in Japan in 2026 tend to be small—24 participants per session (Kagurazaka, Jimbocho), 30 guests (Stay-in Theater), up to 60 (the ferry)—and limited in duration. This contrasts with the model of “Sleep No More” in Shanghai and Seoul, which runs for long periods in a single building.

Involvement from the side of the places themselves is also becoming visible: the ferry production organized as a Shizuoka Prefecture project, the shrine production supported by Kyoto Prefecture, the City of Kyoto and others, and the street-walking production funded by Arts Council Tokyo. How places outside theaters are used, and how small-group experiences can be sustained, seem likely to shape how this form spreads.

Frequently asked questions

How does immersive theater differ from ordinary theater?

In many productions, audiences do not sit in seats but walk around the venue, choosing where to look and which characters to follow. coly Inc. describes it as a format in which audiences move around the entire venue rather than watching a stage from their seats. In some productions, developments change through conversations with characters and choices. Running times among the examples in this article range from about 70 minutes to about seven hours for the day trip by ferry.

Is Immersive Fort Tokyo still open?

No. According to its operator, Katana Inc., it closed on Saturday, February 28, 2026. The company explained that it had judged the facility to be too large.

Where can I see “Sleep No More”?

The New York production gave its final performance on January 5, 2025. Punchdrunk’s official site lists the Shanghai version (since 2016) and the Seoul version (run listed as July 2025 – September 2026). Check each official site for whether it is playing and for dates.

What is a video “immersive theater”?

The term is sometimes used for theaters that envelop audiences in video rather than featuring actors. The Tokyo National Museum’s “Immersive Theater: Neo Japonism” (2025) was a video exhibition using NHK’s high-definition video, with no works on display.

*Information as of October 21, 2026. Please check the official website for the latest information.

*Top image: “Honoakarido, the Pawnshop of Memories,” a street-walking immersive theater production in Kagurazaka (photo: Hiroyuki Tomioka) (from Long Run Planning Co., Ltd.’s press release)

*This article was compiled by the TOKYO ART SPHERE editorial team based on official announcements and public materials from each agency and organizer (as of October 21, 2026).

Text: TOKYO ART SPHERE Editorial Team

A note from the publisher

*Disclosure: Among the productions introduced in this article, “KAGUYA” and “MYSTERIO” aboard the Asuka III are works produced by HITOHATA, INC., an affiliate of HITOHATA ASSOCIATION, the general incorporated association that operates TOKYO ART SPHERE (About us).

Shipboard theater on the Asuka III

In the Lumière Theater aboard NYK Cruises’ Asuka III, performing arts combining video and dance on stage are presented. The programs are HITOHATA, INC.’s “KAGUYA” and “MYSTERIO” and SIRO-A’s “TECHNO CIRCUS” and “GENJI”; details are in our article on the Asuka III’s shipboard theater.