Tokyo Festival Executive Committee
Performing Arts Festival: Autumn Meteorite 2025 Tokyo Opening on Wednesday, October 1!
2025.09.29
Press release
PDF ver.
[The inaugural Autumn Meteorite held under Artistic Director Toshiki Okada. New programs and the director’s latest message announced.]
Performing Arts Festival: Autumn Meteorite 2025 Tokyo, centered around the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre in Ikebukuro, will finally open on Wednesday, October 1, 2025. We would greatly appreciate your media coverage and attendance.
For the first year under the artistic director Toshiki Okada, we will feature “Performance Program”, presenting 14 diverse performances from Japan and abroad, “Non-Performance Program”, offering lectures and workshops, and “Hello and Welcome (Attendee Support)” to support accessibility and inclusivity across all programs.
Our various programs will allow audiences to understand and relate more directly with contemporary performing arts from Japan and around the world. And it also creates opportunities to become aware of different realities and reconsider our world through fresh perspectives.
In addition, Welcome Galaxy at the plaza in front of the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, will be a social space where visitors can enjoy workshops, food and drinks, as well as an information center providing same-day ticket details and program flyers.
The venue will be decorated with flags, banners, and posters designed with the impactful and memorable visual identity of Autumn Meteorite, transforming the theater into a festive ambience. A participatory raffle campaign connected with social media is also planned.
Concept Book: A Banquet of Contexts distributed free of charge in both print and digital editions during the festival period guide audiences in their understanding of the festival's unique concept, “Meteorite-ness.” The title “A Banquet of Contexts” itself embodies this performing arts festival, as expressed by Toshiki Okada.
For more details and the latest updates, please visit our official website.
Our various programs will allow audiences to understand and relate more directly with contemporary performing arts from Japan and around the world. And it also creates opportunities to become aware of different realities and reconsider our world through fresh perspectives.
In addition, Welcome Galaxy at the plaza in front of the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, will be a social space where visitors can enjoy workshops, food and drinks, as well as an information center providing same-day ticket details and program flyers.
The venue will be decorated with flags, banners, and posters designed with the impactful and memorable visual identity of Autumn Meteorite, transforming the theater into a festive ambience. A participatory raffle campaign connected with social media is also planned.
Concept Book: A Banquet of Contexts distributed free of charge in both print and digital editions during the festival period guide audiences in their understanding of the festival's unique concept, “Meteorite-ness.” The title “A Banquet of Contexts” itself embodies this performing arts festival, as expressed by Toshiki Okada.
For more details and the latest updates, please visit our official website.
[Message from Artistic Director Toshiki Okada]
It all begins now. The moment to experience the “meteorites” we have prepared and will introduce throughout a month-long festival period. The moment to encounter works and artists that embody “meteorite” I mean by something foreign and unfamiliar. The moment to feel the atmosphere of this festival, what I call its “meteorite-ness,” has finally come.
Under the name Autumn Meteorite, we have created a space to encounter meteorites arriving from beyond the dominant contexts of the present, Tokyo and the world of performing arts itself.
If you become a witness to the space and it allows you to feel sensations you have never felt before, or to be confronted by aesthetics you have never experienced, there is no greater happiness than this.
This reality, this society, these circumstances. Autumn Meteorite 2025 Tokyo is a question shaped in the form of art, devised to face them.
And the question bursts forth and flows toward you—it is upon us at last.
I sincerely hope that this meteorite-like question may spark even a small transformation within each of you who take part in this festival.
To live is a process of transformation. To make this festival itself such a site, such a space to celebrate that process, Autumn Meteorite 2025 Tokyo will now unfold together with you, with the participating artists and with the staff who have brought this event to life.
Here, I proclaim the long-awaited birth and the grand opening of the Performing Arts Festival: Autumn Meteorite Tokyo, and of its first edition, Autumn Meteorite 2025 Tokyo.
Under the name Autumn Meteorite, we have created a space to encounter meteorites arriving from beyond the dominant contexts of the present, Tokyo and the world of performing arts itself.
If you become a witness to the space and it allows you to feel sensations you have never felt before, or to be confronted by aesthetics you have never experienced, there is no greater happiness than this.
This reality, this society, these circumstances. Autumn Meteorite 2025 Tokyo is a question shaped in the form of art, devised to face them.
And the question bursts forth and flows toward you—it is upon us at last.
I sincerely hope that this meteorite-like question may spark even a small transformation within each of you who take part in this festival.
To live is a process of transformation. To make this festival itself such a site, such a space to celebrate that process, Autumn Meteorite 2025 Tokyo will now unfold together with you, with the participating artists and with the staff who have brought this event to life.
Here, I proclaim the long-awaited birth and the grand opening of the Performing Arts Festival: Autumn Meteorite Tokyo, and of its first edition, Autumn Meteorite 2025 Tokyo.
Toshiki Okada
[Additional Event Information]
Birth Ceremony (Opening Ceremony)
*There will be a press huddle with Artistic Director Toshiki Okada.
Date and Time: October 1, 4:00pm
Venue: Welcome Galaxy (In front of Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre)
An exclusive event (limited to invited guests and media) that declares the opening of Autumn Meteorite.
*There will be a press huddle with Artistic Director Toshiki Okada.
Date and Time: October 1, 4:00pm
Venue: Welcome Galaxy (In front of Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre)
An exclusive event (limited to invited guests and media) that declares the opening of Autumn Meteorite.
Toshiki Okada "Writing Something Right There"
Date and Time: October 26, 12:00pm (end time TBD)
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre │ Lower Plaza (B1F)
*Japanese–English translation available
This live performance features Toshiki Okada, Artistic Director of Autumn Meteorite Tokyo, writing a piece of fiction in a corner of the plaza inside the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre. The fiction he creates will be about what is happening right there in the moment. The screen of his device, where the text is improvised, will be displayed, allowing the audience to watch in real time as the words are written and rewritten. A fiction generated through text will take shape on the spot, transform the space as it unfolds, and disappear the instant it ends. This is a one-day-only live event.
Date and Time: October 26, 12:00pm (end time TBD)
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre │ Lower Plaza (B1F)
*Japanese–English translation available
This live performance features Toshiki Okada, Artistic Director of Autumn Meteorite Tokyo, writing a piece of fiction in a corner of the plaza inside the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre. The fiction he creates will be about what is happening right there in the moment. The screen of his device, where the text is improvised, will be displayed, allowing the audience to watch in real time as the words are written and rewritten. A fiction generated through text will take shape on the spot, transform the space as it unfolds, and disappear the instant it ends. This is a one-day-only live event.
Ikebukuro Walking Tour & Performing Arts Festival: Autumn Meteorite Tokyo Opening Program Viewing
Date and Time: October 1, ①2:00pm ②2:30pm
Venue: GLOBAL RING THEATRE and Ikebukuro area
Language: English
Explore Ikebukuro's hidden charms and street art on this walking tour. Your English-speaking guide will lead you to mysterious, historic spots you might not discover on your own. Along the way, visit the historic Frank Lloyd Wright-designed building "Jiyu Gakuen Myonichikan," designated an Important Cultural Property in 1997, and enjoy tea time. One highlight is the unique owl sculptures decorating the streets—be sure to take photos! After the tour, you can attend the Performing Arts Festival: Autumn Meteorite 2025 Tokyo opening program, "Another Shape of Reality/Shape of Another Reality"!
Date and Time: October 1, ①2:00pm ②2:30pm
Venue: GLOBAL RING THEATRE and Ikebukuro area
Language: English
Explore Ikebukuro's hidden charms and street art on this walking tour. Your English-speaking guide will lead you to mysterious, historic spots you might not discover on your own. Along the way, visit the historic Frank Lloyd Wright-designed building "Jiyu Gakuen Myonichikan," designated an Important Cultural Property in 1997, and enjoy tea time. One highlight is the unique owl sculptures decorating the streets—be sure to take photos! After the tour, you can attend the Performing Arts Festival: Autumn Meteorite 2025 Tokyo opening program, "Another Shape of Reality/Shape of Another Reality"!
Shakespeare’s Wild Sisters Group × NIWA GEKIDAN PENINO "The Bathhouse of Honest Desires" Special Ticket with English Guide Backstage Tour
Date and Time: October 4, after the 4:00pm performance
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre │ Playhouse
Language: English
After the performance of "The Bathhouse of Honest Desires," we invite you to a special backstage tour with an English-speaking guide. Participants will explore the audience area and behind-the-scenes spaces while hearing insights into the production from the artists and staff. This program offers a deeper understanding of the world of "The Bathhouse of Honest Desires. "
Date and Time: October 4, after the 4:00pm performance
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre │ Playhouse
Language: English
After the performance of "The Bathhouse of Honest Desires," we invite you to a special backstage tour with an English-speaking guide. Participants will explore the audience area and behind-the-scenes spaces while hearing insights into the production from the artists and staff. This program offers a deeper understanding of the world of "The Bathhouse of Honest Desires. "
Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre Guided Tour in Autumn Meteorite 2025 Tokyo
Date and Time: October 25, 12:30 pm
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre
Language: English
This is a guided tour of Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre during the Autumn Meteorite 2025 Tokyo. This special tour offers the chance to not only learn about the theatre itself, but also experience the unique atmosphere of the festival. Participants will also have the opportunity to explore the inside of the theatre’s halls.
Date and Time: October 25, 12:30 pm
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre
Language: English
This is a guided tour of Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre during the Autumn Meteorite 2025 Tokyo. This special tour offers the chance to not only learn about the theatre itself, but also experience the unique atmosphere of the festival. Participants will also have the opportunity to explore the inside of the theatre’s halls.
Where to Next? A Residency for Watching and Talking
Sharing and Exchanging Session
Date and Time: November 2, 11:00am - 2:00pm
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre │ Lower Plaza (B1F)
Languages: English / Japanese (with consecutive interpretation)
Participants—emerging performing arts practitioners from across Asia and beyond—will reflect on their experiences of watching Autumn Meteorite performances and visiting art spaces in and around Tokyo. They will share their insights in connection with their own practices, reviewing the residency period while engaging in dialogue and exchange with the audience.
*“Where to Next? A Residency for Watching and Talking” is supported by the Japan Foundation.
Sharing and Exchanging Session
Date and Time: November 2, 11:00am - 2:00pm
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre │ Lower Plaza (B1F)
Languages: English / Japanese (with consecutive interpretation)
Participants—emerging performing arts practitioners from across Asia and beyond—will reflect on their experiences of watching Autumn Meteorite performances and visiting art spaces in and around Tokyo. They will share their insights in connection with their own practices, reviewing the residency period while engaging in dialogue and exchange with the audience.
*“Where to Next? A Residency for Watching and Talking” is supported by the Japan Foundation.
International Presenter Invitation
Meet the Presenters! – Dialogues on Collaboration, Criticism, and Festivals
Date and Time: October 31, 1:30pm – 4:30pm
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre │ Rehearsal Room M1 (B2)
Languages: English / Japanese (simultaneous interpretation provided)
Producers, dramaturgs, critics, and others invited from around the world by Autumn Meteorite will come together to discuss the current state, challenges, and emerging themes of performing arts in their respective countries, while reflecting on their own practices. The discussions will be divided into multiple thematic sections, providing a valuable opportunity to gain a multifaceted and cross-cutting understanding of international trends.
*“International Presenter Invitation” is supported by the Japan Foundation.
Meet the Presenters! – Dialogues on Collaboration, Criticism, and Festivals
Date and Time: October 31, 1:30pm – 4:30pm
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre │ Rehearsal Room M1 (B2)
Languages: English / Japanese (simultaneous interpretation provided)
Producers, dramaturgs, critics, and others invited from around the world by Autumn Meteorite will come together to discuss the current state, challenges, and emerging themes of performing arts in their respective countries, while reflecting on their own practices. The discussions will be divided into multiple thematic sections, providing a valuable opportunity to gain a multifaceted and cross-cutting understanding of international trends.
*“International Presenter Invitation” is supported by the Japan Foundation.
Welcome Galaxy
Schedule: October 1 – November 3
Venue: The plaza in front of Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre
Restaurants within Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre will open at Welcome Galaxy.
Schedule: October 1 – November 3
Venue: The plaza in front of Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre
Restaurants within Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre will open at Welcome Galaxy.
Cafe des Arts – Autumn Meteorite cocktails
Gonta– Autumn-flavored Meteorite rice balls
BERG AUBE – Autumn Meteorite Beer
Gonta– Autumn-flavored Meteorite rice balls
BERG AUBE – Autumn Meteorite Beer
*Please check our website for daily opening hours and vendor schedules.
[Other Programs of Autumn Meteorite 2025 Tokyo]
If you wish to interview artists or attend programs, please contact our press office via email.
For detailed program information, please refer to the link provided in each program title.
Autumn Meteorite 2025 Tokyo schedule here.
If you wish to interview artists or attend programs, please contact our press office via email.
For detailed program information, please refer to the link provided in each program title.
Autumn Meteorite 2025 Tokyo schedule here.
Opening Program "Another Shape of Reality/Shape of Another Reality"
Schedule: October 1, 5:30pm
Venue: GLOBAL RING THEATRE
Toshiki Okada Dance Piece / Theater Piece "Dance Jurors' Dance"
Schedule: October 1 – 5
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre │ Theatre East
*All performances are Relaxed Performances
Kuranosuke SASAKI Solo Performance "Jonah"
Schedule: October 1 Preview / October 2 – 13
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre │ Theatre West
Schedule: October 1 Preview / October 2 – 13
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre │ Theatre West
Shakespeare’s Wild Sisters Group × NIWA GEKIDAN PENINO
"The Bathhouse of Honest Desires"
Schedule: October 3 – 5
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre │ Playhouse
"The Bathhouse of Honest Desires"
Schedule: October 3 – 5
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre │ Playhouse
Faye Driscoll "Weathering"
Schedule: October 10 – 12
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre │ Theatre East
Schedule: October 10 – 12
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre │ Theatre East
Handa Gote Research & Development "THE THIRD HAND"
Schedule: October 17 – 19
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre │ Theatre West
Schedule: October 17 – 19
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre │ Theatre West
Forced Entertainment "Signal to Noise"
Schedule: October 17 – 19
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre │ Theatre East
Schedule: October 17 – 19
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre │ Theatre East
YOU BALANCE
Schedule: October 24 – 25
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre │ Theatre East, Lower Plaza, Atrium
*Come and go as you please
*Visit our official website for details on participating artists
Schedule: October 24 – 25
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre │ Theatre East, Lower Plaza, Atrium
*Come and go as you please
*Visit our official website for details on participating artists
Utau-Hahagokoro "The Theater☆Sing! Dance! Grow! A Garden of Hahagokoro
~Children's Clothing is Reincarnation~"
Schedule: October 25 – 26
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre │ Theatre West
*All performances are Relaxed Performances, with stage sign language interpretation
~Children's Clothing is Reincarnation~"
Schedule: October 25 – 26
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre │ Theatre West
*All performances are Relaxed Performances, with stage sign language interpretation
Xavier Bobés "Things easily forgotten"
Schedule: October 28 – November 3
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre │ Theatre West etc.
Schedule: October 28 – November 3
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre │ Theatre West etc.
SEKITA IKUKO "under take"
Schedule: October 31 – November 3
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre │ Theatre East
Schedule: October 31 – November 3
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre │ Theatre East
Damien Jalet × Kohei Nawa "Planet[wanderer]"
Schedule: November 1 – 3
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre │ Playhouse
Schedule: November 1 – 3
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre │ Playhouse
Shin Hanagata "Ergonomic Embryo – Protocell"
Schedule: November 1 – 3
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre │ Atelier West
Schedule: November 1 – 3
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre │ Atelier West
Civic Creative Base Tokyo [CCBT] × Performing Arts Festival: Autumn Meteorite Tokyo
Future Ideations Camp Vol.7│Super Sober Shamanism: Exploring Synchronization, Co-presence, and Mimesis through Theatre and Technology
[Keynote Lectures 1–3: Theo Triantafyllidis, Elena Knox, lololol]
Schedule: October 1, October 2, October 4, 7:30pm – 9:00pm
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre │ Atelier West
Future Ideations Camp Vol.7│Super Sober Shamanism: Exploring Synchronization, Co-presence, and Mimesis through Theatre and Technology
[Keynote Lectures 1–3: Theo Triantafyllidis, Elena Knox, lololol]
Schedule: October 1, October 2, October 4, 7:30pm – 9:00pm
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre │ Atelier West
[Final Presentation and Results Exhibition]
Final Presentations: October 12, 2:00pm – 5:00pm
Results Exhibition: October 15 – 19, 1:00pm – 7:00pm
*Closes at 5:00pm on the final day
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre │ Atelier West
Reservations are now open for the Final presentation. Details here.
(Results Exhibition does not require reservation.)
Final Presentations: October 12, 2:00pm – 5:00pm
Results Exhibition: October 15 – 19, 1:00pm – 7:00pm
*Closes at 5:00pm on the final day
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre │ Atelier West
Reservations are now open for the Final presentation. Details here.
(Results Exhibition does not require reservation.)
Yoko Yamaguchi Lecture "A Quick Guide to Contemporary Object Theater"
Schedule: October 18, 1:00pm
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre │ Symphony Space
Schedule: October 18, 1:00pm
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre │ Symphony Space
Ariel Doron "Object Theater Workshop / Professional Edition"
Schedule: October 28 – November 1
Presentation: November 1, 6:00pm – 8:00pm
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre │ Theatre West
Schedule: October 28 – November 1
Presentation: November 1, 6:00pm – 8:00pm
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre │ Theatre West
Ariel Doron "Object Theater Workshop / Experimental Edition"
Schedule: November 3, 1:00pm – 4:00pm
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre │ Theatre West
Schedule: November 3, 1:00pm – 4:00pm
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre │ Theatre West
Childcare Workshop: "Kids Play Theater"
Schedule: October 1 – November 3
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre │ Atelier East
Schedule: October 1 – November 3
Venue: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre │ Atelier East
[Performing Arts Festival: Autumn Meteorite Tokyo]
The Performing Arts Festival: Autumn Meteorite Tokyo, will be held mainly at the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre in Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku. The Artistic Director is Toshiki Okada, who is active both in Japan and overseas as a playwright, theater director, novelist, and leader of the theater company chelfitsch. With our core missions―“Creation of new art,” “Promoting artists and works internationally,” “personnel development in the performing arts”―, we will present a variety of performing arts works from both Japan and overseas, and implement initiatives to develop performing arts artists and production staff to be active in the world. Toshiki Okada is highly acclaimed both domestically and internationally for his unique methodology exploring the relationship between language and the body as well as for his sharp insight into contemporary society. Under his direction, this Tokyo-based festival aspires to become a more globally connected event that is forward-thinking, original, creative, and international.
The Performing Arts Festival: Autumn Meteorite Tokyo, will be held mainly at the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre in Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku. The Artistic Director is Toshiki Okada, who is active both in Japan and overseas as a playwright, theater director, novelist, and leader of the theater company chelfitsch. With our core missions―“Creation of new art,” “Promoting artists and works internationally,” “personnel development in the performing arts”―, we will present a variety of performing arts works from both Japan and overseas, and implement initiatives to develop performing arts artists and production staff to be active in the world. Toshiki Okada is highly acclaimed both domestically and internationally for his unique methodology exploring the relationship between language and the body as well as for his sharp insight into contemporary society. Under his direction, this Tokyo-based festival aspires to become a more globally connected event that is forward-thinking, original, creative, and international.
[Event Overview]
Performing Arts Festival: Autumn Meteorite 2025 Tokyo
Dates: Wednesday, October 1st - Monday, November 3rd, 2025
Venues: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, GLOBAL RING THEATRE and etc.
Organizer: Tokyo Festival Executive Committee [Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre (Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture)]
Support: Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan Japan Arts Council
Sponsor: Asahi Group Japan, Ltd.
Media Partner: Tokyo Art Beat
In cooperation with: Toshima city, SEIBU RAILWAY Co., Ltd., TOBU RAILWAY CO., Ltd.
Number of Programs: 14 Performance Programs, 8 Non-Performance Programs, 3 Hello and Welcome (Attendee Support)
*Please note that event details are subject to change.
Performing Arts Festival: Autumn Meteorite 2025 Tokyo
Dates: Wednesday, October 1st - Monday, November 3rd, 2025
Venues: Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, GLOBAL RING THEATRE and etc.
Organizer: Tokyo Festival Executive Committee [Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre (Tokyo Metropolitan Foundation for History and Culture)]
Support: Agency for Cultural Affairs, Government of Japan Japan Arts Council
Sponsor: Asahi Group Japan, Ltd.
Media Partner: Tokyo Art Beat
In cooperation with: Toshima city, SEIBU RAILWAY Co., Ltd., TOBU RAILWAY CO., Ltd.
Number of Programs: 14 Performance Programs, 8 Non-Performance Programs, 3 Hello and Welcome (Attendee Support)
*Please note that event details are subject to change.
■For Media Inquiries
Tokyo Festival Executive Committee Office
Tokyo Festival Executive Committee Office
Performing Arts Festival: Autumn Meteorite 2025 Tokyo
TEL: +81 -3-6812-1638 (11:00am – 5:00pm, except venue holidays)
Email: press@autumnmeteorite.jp
Email: press@autumnmeteorite.jp
Photo: Autumn Meteorite 2025 Tokyo Birth Visual