Bunkamura

Overview

Bunkamura (文化村) is a cultural complex in Shibuya, Tokyo, opened on 3 September 1989. It contains a concert hall, a theatre, and a cinema, and it sits beside the Tokyu Department Store. It is operated by Tokyu Bunkamura, Inc., part of the Tokyu Group. When it opened it was the first large-scale cultural complex in Japan.

The complex occupies a site in the Shōtō and Dōgenzaka districts of Shibuya. Its three principal venues are Orchard Hall, a concert hall; Theatre Cocoon, a theatre; and LE CINEMA, a cinema.

History

Bunkamura opened on 3 September 1989. That date places its opening in the first year of the Heisei era (平成, heisei, the era name of the reign of Emperor Akihito, 1989–2019). The project was realised by the Tokyu Group, the railway and retail conglomerate whose Shibuya station and department store anchor the surrounding district. The complex was the first large-scale cultural complex in Japan.

The name was chosen with reference to culture and to the Toei Kyoto Studio Park, a film-themed attraction in Kyoto. The complex's own name, Bunkamura, means "cultural enclave" or "culture village".

For more than three decades Bunkamura operated as a combined concert, theatre, and film venue in one of Tokyo's busiest commercial districts. On 10 April 2023 a long-term redevelopment of the local area began. All venues except Orchard Hall closed for the duration of the work. During the redevelopment, the operating company continued to stage performances in venues across the city.

What Stands There Today

The Bunkamura site is in Shibuya, at coordinates 35.6608330, 139.6950000, within the Shōtō and Dōgenzaka districts. The complex is adjacent to the Tokyu Department Store.

Its constituent venues are Orchard Hall, Theatre Cocoon, and LE CINEMA. Under the redevelopment that began on 10 April 2023, Orchard Hall remains in operation while the other venues are closed. Performances that would otherwise take place in the closed venues are staged elsewhere in the city for the duration of the work.

The Name in Japanese

The Japanese name is 文化村. Its kana reading is ぶんかむら, and its romaji is bunkamura. The word is a compound of three kanji, each of which carries its own meaning and reading.

文 — read bun in this word. It means writing, letters, text, or learning. It is the character that appears in words to do with literature, scholarship, and the written word, and by extension in words to do with culture and the arts.

化 — read ka in this word. It means change, transformation, or conversion — the process of becoming something. Combined with the preceding character, it forms 文化 (bunka), the standard Japanese word for "culture". The pairing is a direct calque of the Chinese term for culture, and it is one of the most common two-character compounds in modern Japanese.

村 — read mura in this word. It means village or hamlet. It is a familiar character in Japanese place names and appears in words for settlement and community.

Read together, 文化村 is 文化 (bunka, culture) plus 村 (mura, village): "culture village", or as the complex is often rendered in English, "cultural enclave". The reading of the final character shifts from mura to mura within the compound in the regular way, and the whole word is pronounced bunkamura with no pause between elements.

The name is a useful one for learners because all three characters are extremely common and each is productive on its own. 文 appears in 文学 (bungaku, literature) and 文句 (monku, a complaint). 化 appears in 変化 (henka, change) and 化学 (kagaku, chemistry). 村 appears in 村人 (murabito, villager) and in countless place names. Recognising the three pieces makes the compound transparent: culture, made, village.

Visiting and Context

Bunkamura stands in Shibuya, one of Tokyo's principal commercial and transport hubs, next to the Tokyu Department Store. The site is within the Shōtō and Dōgenzaka districts, at coordinates 35.6608330, 139.6950000.

Because the redevelopment that began on 10 April 2023 closed all venues except Orchard Hall, the practical situation for a visit depends on the date. Orchard Hall continues to operate on site. Programming that would ordinarily use Theatre Cocoon, LE CINEMA, or the other closed spaces is staged at venues elsewhere in the city while the work proceeds.

For readers studying Japanese, the name itself is the most durable thing to carry away. 文化 (bunka, culture) is a word that appears constantly in Japanese — in 文化祭 (bunkasai, a school culture festival), 文化財 (bunkazai, cultural property), and 異文化 (ibunka, foreign or different culture). Adding 村 (mura, village) to it produces a place name that reads, plainly and exactly, as "culture village".