Nekomachi - Catville (2026)

NEKOMACHI / CAT TOWN — THE RETURN — a town possessed by cats. somewhere behind shimokitazawa. autumn 2026. The unseen begins to reveal itself — Walk the night streets of Shimokitazawa. A 45-minute experience of sound and dance. CAT TOWN 2025 Last year, 1,800 people wandered in. The sold-out immersive theater returns. Premiered in 2025 at Moon Art Night Shimokitazawa, an art festival drawing 500,000 visitors. Every ticket sold out, and the production was featured by media in Japan and abroad. In 2026, it returns with a new story and a double cast. (A fully English version will also be presented, performed by English-speaking actors.) STORY In Shimokitazawa, there is a strange town of those possessed by cats. An autumn night. As I gaze up at the moon, a man calls out to me. Invited along, I begin down the straight night road that was once a railway, guided by moonlight. Bit by bit, the poet begins to tell the legend of "Cat Town" passed down in this city. They say that somewhere in this city lies an abandoned railway. Night after night, certain figures walk that line, patrolling for anomalies. In the dark, they glow pale blue — like "blue cats." Listening to the poet's voice, matching the rhythm of his steps, my vision begins to overlap with his gaze. Memories and illusions belonging to no one appear, and among the crowd, the presence of pale glowing figures comes into view. Am I seeing this by my own will? Or am I, without knowing, being shown? Wrapped in the anxiety of nearly losing our way, we arrive at a strange station. Down the stairs, around an old railway deep underground, blue glowing figures walk on in silence — like a colony of cats lurking in the shadow of the city. Watching them, I realize: I, too, have walked that line — at the same pace, in the same direction. Without noticing, I had stepped into the current of things no longer human. "The unseen begins to reveal itself." An urban immersive theater. ABOUT DAISYDOZE daisydoze is a creative team making immersive theater on the streets of the city, based in Shimokitazawa. "Nekomachi" is its milestone 10th production. Selected for the Agency for Cultural Affairs "SOIL" Fellowship 2026, the company pitches to the international market at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August 2026. ABOUT MOON ART NIGHT SHIMOKITAZAWA An art festival held across the whole town of Shimokitazawa around the harvest moon. Artworks appear throughout the streets — including a giant moon balloon — drawing about 500,000 visitors. "Nekomachi" is presented as part of the festival.