A city street in Japan at dusk shows colourful neon signs and a large sculpture of a hand holding sushi above a restaurant entrance. The buildings are densely packed, and various shop signs can be seen.
A street in Osaka | Picture: Monika Rittershaus

The 2025/26 season may officially be over, but before heading into their summer break, the Berliner Philharmoniker set off once more on a special short tour – to Japan. The tour opens with a concert at the Expo in Osaka, a place of historic significance: the orchestra already appeared here in 1970 at the first World Expo ever held in Japan. The programme features works by Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Ludwig van Beethoven. The same repertoire will be performed at the next stop, in the city of Nagoya. The tour’s grand finale, however, takes place at the foot of Mount Fuji: together with Gustavo Dudamel, the Berliner Philharmoniker will present two “Japanese Waldbühne concerts”. As in Berlin’s Waldbühne, the orchestra performs outdoors, surrounded by stunning natural scenery – this time at the Kawaguchiko Stellar Theater, with a programme of seven works from North and South America. And then – a well-earned summer break.

Beneath Mount Fuji: Kawaguchiko

The last stop of their tour takes the Berliner Philharmoniker to the Kawaguchiko Stellar Theater.

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Next stop: Nagoya!

After a rousing first concert in Osaka, the Berliner Philharmoniker’s Japan tour continued with a performance at the Aichi Prefectural Arts Theater in Nagoya.

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Osaka: Photos of rehearsal and concert

On 3 July 2025, the Berliner Philharmoniker performed at Osaka Festival Hall. Our photographer Stephan Rabold captured the day’s most memorable moments.

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From Neon Lights to Mount Fuji

The Berliner Philharmoniker are travelling to Japan for the 25th time – a concert tour with Gustavo Dudamel that follows the fascinating rhythm between big city bustle and contemplative silence.

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Gustavo Dudamel with curly hair in a suit leans against a dark table and holds a baton in front of a dark background. He has dimples and looks directly into the camera.
Gustavo Dudamel | Picture:Danny Clinch 

A bundle of energy

Gustavo Dudamel – a longstanding friend of the Berliner Philharmoniker

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A great love

The Berliner Philharmoniker first traveled to Japan with Herbert von Karajan in 1957. We look back on decades of friendship with our local audiences.

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What you (might) not know about Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky

Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky’s unmistakable musical voice helped shape the sound of Romanticism. But who was the man behind the glittering façade of his works? A look at some (perhaps) lesser-known sides of the artist.

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Peter Tschaikowsky, probably 1888 | Picture:Atelier E. Bieber, Hamburg, probably by Leonard Berlin (1841–1931), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and the Berliner Philharmoniker

Twice during his European tours, Pyotr Tchaikovsky conducted the Berliner Philharmoniker – in February 1888 and again in 1889. The collaboration between the composer and the orchestra had a longer and somewhat delicate prelude ...

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