
Tokyo · Akasaka
Suntory Hall
Karajan called it a jewel box, and the vineyard layout has set the Japanese standard since 1986
The organ, with nearly six thousand pipes, behind the vineyard terraces
Japan's first dedicated concert hall opened in 1986 with Herbert von Karajan advising on the design and calling it a jewel box, which the marketing has never let go of. The vineyard layout surrounds the stage, the acoustics are warm and precise, and the standard set here shaped every Japanese hall built afterwards.
Concerts start on the minute, the audience does not applaud between movements and the whole thing ends in time for the train, which is a coherent set of values.
The detail
Good to know
- Opened
- 1986
- Layout
- Vineyard, 2 006 seats
- Organ
- About 5 900 pipes
- Free
- Lunchtime organ concerts on selected days
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