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National Ballet of Japan’s New Nutcracker Streams for Free Starting June 6

Lucy Spencer Mason

June 5, 2026

It may be June, but Nutcracker season is already in the air. Beginning June 6, audiences worldwide can tune in to the National Ballet of Japan’s new production of The Nutcracker, by British choreographer Will Tuckett. Recorded on December 25, 2025, at Tokyo’s New National Theatre, the performance features dancers from the company alongside students from the New National Theatre Ballet School and the Japan Junior Ballet. The production will be on demand for free on NNTT Stream (the video platform of New National Theatre, Tokyo) through December 31.

Onstage, two dancers sit in an ice-covered sleigh. The female is wearing a white dress, and the male is wearing a red, white, and gold-adorned jacket. A third dancer wears a green cape and smiles down at them. — The National Ballet of Japan in Will Tuckett’s *The Nutcracker*. Photo by Takashi Shikama, courtesy National Ballet of Japan.

The Nutcracker marks Tuckett’s second commission for NBJ, following The Tragedy of Macbeth in 2023. For this staging, he collaborated with conductor Martin Yates to arrange Tchaikovsky’s original score with additional music. The production also features lighting by Satoshi Sato, costumes and sets by Colin Richmond, and projections by Douglas O’Connell.

Tuckett’s Nutcracker reimagines the story with a Queen Rat, played by first artist Yui Negishi, who battles with an older Clara, danced by principal dancer Yui Yonezawa. In Act II, Clara and the Nutcracker journey to the Kingdom of Sweets, where she is crowned Sugar Plum Fairy before the pair perform the grand pas de deux.

Onstage, four dancers wear red-and-white striped short dresses. In the center, a dancer is wearing a red-and-white striped tutu and red pointe shoes. Each dancer stands on pointe in passé with an arm raised holding a candy cane, while the other arm is held in second. — The National Ballet of Japan in Will Tuckett’s *The Nutcracker*. Photo by Takashi Shikama, courtesy National Ballet of Japan.

The stream arrives as NBJ continues to raise its international profile under artistic director Miyako Yoshida, including its debut at The Royal Opera House last summer. In an interview with The Times of London, Yoshida, a former Royal Ballet principal, discussed how Japanese dancers have often sought careers abroad, attracted by the higher wages and opportunities offered by leading American and European companies. She added that she is working to improve salary conditions for NBJ company members to give them this option at home.

The Nutcracker begins streaming at 1 pm EDT on Saturday, June 6, and can be enjoyed for free through the end of this year. For viewing, head to the New National Theatre, Tokyo’s digital platform, NNTT Stream.