Yuzuru Hanyu Sets WHITE BOX Tour for Yokohama and Shizuoka in 2027

Five performances bring a new story to the ice

Yuzuru Hanyu will stage five performances of his fourth ICE STORY production, WHITE BOX, in January and February 2027, opening in Yokohama before moving to Shizuoka. The skater has written a new story set in a museum where people can explore their memories and inner lives without being judged by power, status or the value others place on them.

The tour will visit Pia Arena MM in Yokohama on January 9, 11 and 13, followed by Ecopa Arena in Fukuroi, Shizuoka Prefecture, on February 5 and 7. Hanyu is the writer, performer and executive producer, with MIKIKO directing.

Yokohama tickets range from 20,000 yen to 32,000 yen, including tax. Applications for the official advance lottery open on November 14, 2026, at 14:00 and close on November 23 at 23:59. Results are due on November 27 at 18:00. All times are Japan Standard Time.

The organisers' official tour announcement places WHITE BOX after the second part of REALIVE, titled Prequel : Before the WHITE. That earlier work introduces the story whose main narrative begins with the new tour.

A museum built around a person's inner life

Hanyu's fictional museum gives the production a specific setting for its themes of memory, individuality and connection. In an extract from his writing, he describes what WHITE BOX means. The following quotation is translated from Japanese:

WHITE BOX is a museum before returning to the stars.

The description continues with a place anyone can visit, where everyone can be displayed and leave something behind. Power, social position and judgments imposed from outside have no bearing on a person's place there. Visitors explore their souls, discover what is within them and give themselves their own colours.

Colour also runs through Hanyu's explanation of why he wrote the work. He asks what colour the world appears to each person, and what colour he appears to them. His starting point is simple: two people can see the same scene yet feel differently about it and remember different things.

The museum setting brings those ideas together. A person's memories, likes, dislikes, strengths and difficulties become part of what makes that person distinct. Hanyu connects that difference with the possibility of being moved by someone whose way of feeling is unlike one's own.

Hanyu and MIKIKO put solitude at the centre

Hanyu says he wrote the story out of a wish that people would value both their individuality and the beautiful moments when separate lives overlap. In his statement as the production's writer and performer, he describes a commitment to the performance itself. In English translation, he says:

Together with the world created by the world's finest team, led by MIKIKO, I will skate with my whole body and soul, wishing and praying.

MIKIKO, the show's director, approaches the same theme through her experience of creating successive works with Hanyu. She describes a deep quiet within him, alongside his continuing exploration of new possibilities for expression.

MIKIKO says she sees maturity and a new strength in his acceptance of that quiet as part of himself, and in his wish to support others who carry feelings they cannot put into words. She expresses the connection between solitude and other people in this translated statement:

Loneliness can sometimes become an entrance to connecting with someone.

MIKIKO also says Hanyu's body continues to develop beyond her expectations as he expresses delicate and complicated emotions. Her direction will seek to draw out the memories, feelings and sensations carried in his movement. Together, their statements describe a production in which the physical performance and the written story serve the same emotional purpose.

How REALIVE leads into WHITE BOX

REALIVE provides the narrative bridge into the new production. Its second part, Prequel : Before the WHITE, is identified by the organisers as the prequel, meaning a story that takes place before the main events. The announcement associates that work with REALIVE performances in Miyagi in April and Saga in November.

WHITE BOX then begins the main story. Hanyu has written it specifically for this fourth ICE STORY production, continuing his combined role as the person who develops the narrative and performs it on the ice.

The creative partnership is supported by organisers TV Asahi, CIC and teamSirius. Phiten is the official partner, while Shizuoka Asahi Television supports the Shizuoka performances.

Tour dates and the ticket timeline

The official performance schedule confirms three dates at Pia Arena MM in Yokohama's Minato Mirai district and two at Ecopa Arena in Fukuroi. Every performance allows 90 minutes between doors opening and the scheduled start.

Yokohama's opening performance starts an hour later than the other four shows. January 11 is listed as a public holiday in Japan. The key dates are:

• November 14, 2026: Yokohama advance lottery applications open at 14:00.
• November 23, 2026: Applications close at 23:59.
• November 27, 2026: Lottery results are announced at 18:00.
• January 9, 2027: Pia Arena MM, doors at 15:30 and performance at 17:00.
• January 11 and 13, 2027: Pia Arena MM, doors at 14:30 and performances at 16:00.
• February 5 and 7, 2027: Ecopa Arena, doors at 14:30 and performances at 16:00.

Shizuoka ticket prices and sales arrangements will be announced later. No announcement date has been given for those details or for Yokohama's general sale, when wheelchair tickets will become available.

What Yokohama's ticket prices buy

All Yokohama seats are reserved, with tax included in the listed prices. Arena S is the front row. Stand SS1 is on the short side of the rink, while Stand SS2 is on the long side, giving buyers a choice of position as well as price.

The complete Yokohama price list is:

• Arena S, front row: 32,000 yen.
• Arena A: 30,000 yen.
• Stand SS1, short side: 29,000 yen.
• Stand SS2, long side: 26,000 yen.
• Stand S: 25,000 yen.
• Stand A: 20,000 yen.
• Stand A with a restricted view: 20,000 yen.
• Wheelchair seating: 26,000 yen.

The difference between the cheapest ticket and a front row seat is 12,000 yen. At 32,000 yen compared with 20,000 yen, the front row costs 60% more than the lowest priced category. Standard Stand A and restricted view Stand A tickets have the same price, making the viewing conditions an important part of that choice.

The organisers warn that arena structures, scenery and equipment may obstruct parts of the performance or rink. Stand S and Stand A seats are high in the venue. Restricted view seats have areas of the performance or rink that cannot be seen, with the extent varying by position.

The published seating diagram is illustrative, and actual seats may fall outside the areas shown. The organisers say refunds and seat changes are unavailable after purchase.

How the advance lottery works

TV Asahi's ticket application page sets out the rules for the Yokohama draw. Each person may submit one application per performance, covering up to all three Yokohama dates. Each application can request a maximum of two tickets.

Applicants can rank up to seven seating preferences for a performance. Those preferences must all be for the same date. For example, someone applying for January 9 can choose different seat categories for January 9, but cannot use January 11 as a later preference within that application.

Only one seating category that can be allocated will be available for purchase from each application. Anyone seeking more than one performance must make a separate application for each date.

The organisers warn that duplicate entries may all be invalidated when they identify repeated applications involving the same applicant or companion, or the same combination of people, for one performance. Families and friends therefore need to coordinate who is applying and who is named as a companion.

Access, children and resale restrictions

Children younger than three cannot enter. Everyone aged three or older needs a ticket, so families must include eligible children in their ticket planning.

Wheelchair users are instructed to buy wheelchair seating, which costs 26,000 yen in Yokohama and goes on sale during the general sale. An accompanying person also needs a ticket. This makes the wheelchair sales timetable different from the November advance lottery.

The organisers classify the tickets as specified event admission tickets under Japan's Act on the Prohibition of Unauthorized Resale of Specified Entertainment Admission Tickets. They state that resale or transfer without their permission is prohibited. Buyers must also review and agree to the published conditions before applying and attending.

For audiences, the announcement brings together two parts of the experience: a newly written story about what people carry inside themselves, and practical choices about dates, seating and access. Yokohama now has a full price list and an advance lottery timetable, while Shizuoka has confirmed performance dates and times.

Key Points

• WHITE BOX is Hanyu's fourth ICE STORY production, written and performed by him, with MIKIKO directing.
• Five performances are scheduled: Yokohama on January 9, 11 and 13, 2027, and Shizuoka on February 5 and 7.
• The story centres on a fictional museum concerned with memory, individuality and connections between people.
• REALIVE's second part, Prequel : Before the WHITE, leads into the main narrative.
• Yokohama tickets cost 20,000 yen to 32,000 yen, including tax.
• The Yokohama advance lottery runs from November 14 to 23, 2026, with results on November 27.
• Shizuoka ticket details and the Yokohama general sale date are still to be announced.