Suntory Hall

Suntory Hall opened in 1986 in the Ark Hills development in Akasaka, built by the drinks company Suntory to mark sixty years of its whisky. Yasui Architects designed the building and Nagata Acoustics the sound; the 2,006 seats are arranged in blocks around the stage in the vineyard style of the Berlin Philharmonie, and a large Rieger organ with 74 stops sits above the platform. Herbert von Karajan praised the hall as “a jewel box of sound”. A smaller hall, the Blue Rose, is used for chamber music and recitals. The Vienna Philharmonic plays there on its tours of Japan.