KYOTO, Japan–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Jan 26, 2026–
NRE & TAO Entertainment Partners LLC., a joint venture established by Nomura Real Estate Development Co., Ltd. and Tao Entertainment, Inc. to engage in the entertainment business, JTB Communication Design, Inc., and Nomura Real Estate Retail Properties Co., Ltd. are pleased to announce that DRUM TAO THEATER KYOTO tickets will go on sale at 10 p.m. on Tuesday, January 27, 2026 Eastern Standard Time (EST). DRUM TAO THEATER KYOTO is a dedicated theater for the Japanese taiko drumming performance group DRUM TAO that is scheduled to start operating on Thursday, April 9, 2026 Japan Standard Time (JST).*
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260126216398/en/
Official website:https://drum-tao-kyoto.com
1. Tickets for the first show go on sale at 10 p.m. on Tuesday, January 27, 2026 EST.
It is also possible for Sunrise Tours to take you to Kyoto, Japan via a travel package that offers special experiences.
The Japanese drum performance group DRUM TAO is active around the world. A total of more than 10 million people have attended DRUM TAO performances. DRUM TAO THEATER KYOTO debuts as a new base for the group and for the dissemination of the Japanese taiko drumming entertainment that we are proud of to the whole world. It will serve as a hub for sharing new cultural content in the evening in Kyoto, a place where Japanese history, culture and art live on.
Before the opening of the theater, tickets will go on sale on the official website page linked below at 10 p.m. on Tuesday, January 27, 2026 EST.
[Official website | Ticket page] https://drum-tao-kyoto.com/ticket
JTB Global Marketing & Travel Inc. launched the DRUM TAO THEATER KYOTO: Sunrise Tours Special Package on Thursday, February 12 with tours starting on Thursday, May 7.* This tour package is available from Sunrise Tours, a travel package brand dedicated to inbound tourists to Japan. The tour package gives tourists an opportunity to have a special experience at the theater. In addition to the authentic performance, the package also includes one drink, enabling tour participants to relax. Put on a happi or festive clothing and take a photo with a performer using your own camera. Play the drums and add to your memory. Advance reservations can only be made through Sunrise Tours. *Japan Standard Time (JST)
[Reservations] SUNRISE TOURS JTB
The theater’s website will officially open at: 8 p.m. on Tuesday, January 27, 2026 Eastern Standard Time (EST). It features a facility overview, information about DRUM TAO and the group’s promotional videos.
2. The theater has two shows daily, starting at 7 and 9 p.m.* The 7 and 9 p.m. shows have different concepts. Exclusive tickets for premium seats to view the performance up close are available.
The theater has two shows daily, starting at 7 and 9 p.m.,* and the theater is emptied between the two shows. The two shows have different concepts and visitors can directly enjoy the up-close sense of unity that is unique to a theater with a capacity of only about 300 seats, the impressive taiko drum performance and the performers’ energy.
*Japan Standard Time (JST)
Two types of seats are available, standard seats and premium seats which allow the visitor to experience the powerful drumming up close. Each ticket includes a drink. When purchasing your ticket, you can add the food set option irrespective of seat type. If you buy a food set in advance along with your ticket, your food will be served smoothly after you arrive.
Serving as a new optional destination to drop by at night after sightseeing in Kyoto, the theater offers Japanese taiko drum entertainment that is not available anywhere else to visitors from within and outside the country.
Show 1: HIBIKI at 7 p.m. Japan Standard Time (JST)
Energetic live show uniting the audience and performers
This is entertainment that everyone watching is involved in.
A bang of the drum tears the silence apart. Vibration surrounds your entire body, and you directly experience a pleasant thrill.
Children and grown-ups will all smile. Fall in love with this program characterized by a feeling of unity as if you are diving into a wave of sound.
Premium Seat privileges
Each visitor will get a happi, a traditional thin jacket worn at Japanese festivals and traditional events. The happi is a familiar item used during Japanese taiko drumming and other performances. Wear the happi and experience a moment when the audience and performers are united as the whole venue is enveloped in excitement. You can enter the theater 30 minutes before the regular opening time, so you can feel more relaxed enjoying the theater and performance. Have the entire space to yourself before it gets crowded. Spend a luxurious moment here taking photos.
Show 2: YUME at 9 p.m. Japan Standard Time (JST)
During the night performance, you become immersed in a dreamlike worldview
Powerful notes are added to the tranquility of the ancient capital. Static and dynamic, light and shadow— the drama of the contrast overlaps with a profound rhythm.
Traditional Japanese musical instruments and a mystical visual world lead you into a dreamlike world.
An extraordinary afterglow lingers. This subtle and profound performance is a must-see.
Premium Seat privileges
If you purchase a premium seat ticket, you will receive special gift to help you bring your lasting impressions of Kyoto home with you. A member of DRUM TAO will hand it to you with gratitude.
3. Facility overview
DRUM TAO
10 million audience members in 500 cities in 31 countries! One of the best non-verbal entertainment experiences in Japan. An overwhelming performance by Japanese drummers and people playing many different traditional Japanese musical instruments. It is one-of-a-kind performing art. When they performed off-Broadway in 2016, all of their shows were sold out. DRUM TAO was praised highly as the “face” of Japan, promoting the country around the world.
DRUM TAO
DRUM TAO
Illustrative image of the performance
Illustrative image of the performance
Illustrative image of the rooftop
Illustrative image of the lounge
Illustrative image of the theater
JERUSALEM (AP) — The remains of the final hostage in Gaza have been recovered, Israel’s military said Monday, clearing the way for efforts to rebuild Gaza and disarm Hamas in the next phase of the ceasefire that paused the Israel-Hamas war.
The announcement that the remains of police officer Ran Gvili had been found and identified came a day after Israel’s government said the military was conducting a “large-scale operation” in a cemetery in northern Gaza to locate them.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it “an incredible achievement” for Israel and its soldiers, telling Israeli media that “I promised we would bring everyone home and we have brought everyone home.” He said Gvili, who was killed during the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that sparked the war, was among the first to be taken into Gaza.
The return of all remaining hostages, living or dead, has been a key part of the Gaza ceasefire’s first phase. Gvili’s family had urged Israel’s government not to enter the second phase until his remains were recovered and returned.
Hamas said it now has committed to all terms of the ceasefire’s first phase.
The second phase of the ceasefire will confront thornier issues, including transitioning to a new governance structure in Gaza and disarming Hamas, which has ruled the territory for nearly two decades.
Netanyahu’s office said Sunday that once the search for Gvili was finished, Israel would open the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, which Palestinians see as their lifeline to the world. It has been largely shut since May 2024, except for a short period in early 2025.
Palestinians in Gaza said Monday that they hope the recovery of the remains will lead to the opening of Rafah crossing and allow travel to and from Gaza along with the evacuation of people needing medical care.
“We hope this will close off Israel’s pretexts and open the crossing,” said Abdel-Rahman Radwan, a Gaza City resident whose mother is a cancer patient and requires treatment outside Gaza.
Ahmed Ruqab, a father who lives with his family of six in a tent in the Nuseirat refugee camp, called for mediators and the U.S. to pressure Israel to allow more aid and caravans into Gaza.
“We need to turn this page and restart,” he said over the phone.
Israel and Hamas had been under pressure from ceasefire mediators including Washington to move into the second phase of the U.S.-brokered truce, which took effect on Oct. 10.
Israel had repeatedly accused Hamas of dragging its feet in the recovery of the final hostage. Hamas said it had provided all the information it had about Gvili’s remains, and accused Israel of obstructing efforts to search for them in areas of Gaza under Israeli military control.
Israel’s military had said the large-scale operation to locate Gvili’s remains was “in the area of the Yellow Line” that divides the territory.
The October 2023 attack on Israel that launched the war killed about 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage. Gvili, a 24-year-old police officer known affectionately as “Rani,” was killed while fighting Hamas militants.
Before Gvili’s remains were recovered, 20 living hostages and the remains of 27 others had been returned to Israel since the ceasefire, most recently in early December. Israel in exchange has released the bodies of hundreds Palestinians to Gaza.
Israeli forces on Monday fatally shot a man in Gaza City’s Tuffah neighborhood, according to Shifa Hospital, which received the body. The man was close to an area where the military has launched the search operation for Gvili, the hospital said.
Another man was killed in the eastern side of Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital, which received his body. The circumstances of his death were not immediately clear.
Palestinians in Gaza who spoke to The Associated Press in recent weeks questioned whether moving into phase two of the ceasefire will improve conditions on the ground, pointing to ongoing bloodshed and challenges securing basic necessities.
Israel’s offensive has killed more than 71,400 Palestinians since 2023, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry — with more than 480 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire since the latest ceasefire began. The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts.
The Foreign Press Association on Monday asked Israel’s Supreme Court to allow journalists to enter Gaza freely and independently.
The FPA, which represents dozens of global news organizations, has been fighting for more than two years for independent media access to Gaza. Israel has barred reporters from entering Gaza independently since the 2023 attacks by Hamas, which triggered the war, saying entry could put both journalists and soldiers at risk.
The army has offered journalists brief, occasional visits under strict military supervision.
FPA lawyers told the three judge panel that the restrictions are not justified and that with aid workers moving in and out of Gaza, journalists should be allowed in as well. They also said the tightly controlled embeds with the military are no substitute for independent access. The judges are expected to rule in the coming days.
Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
Palestinian children receive donated food at a community kitchen in Nuseirat, in central Gaza Strip, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
People hold signs with a photo of Ran Gvili, who was killed while fighting Hamas militants during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack and whose body has been held in Gaza ever since, during a rally calling for his return in Tel Aviv, Israel, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
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