When it opened in Akasaka in 1986, Suntory Hall was Tokyo’s first venue to specialize in classical music and the first to be designed in the vineyard style, where the audience surrounds the stage. (Its world-class acoustics are an early example of the work of acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota.) Today it’s one of the world’s most renowned concert halls, the home of Tokyo’s six professional orchestras, and a beloved second home for major orchestras worldwide.

This breathtaking Shibuya theater, part of a complex called the Bunkamura, takes cues from the world’s finest concert halls: Vienna's Musikverein, Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, and the Boston Symphony Hall. The common thread? They’re all shoebox-style halls—tall and narrow, you get the idea—that position the audience in front of the orchestra and make for remarkable acoustics. The programming is largely classical, opera, and ballet, but not entirely; Jackson Browne and Yes recently performed.

Japan’s first professional classical ensemble, the NHK Symphony Orchestra, regularly plays here in the main auditorium of Japan’s public broadcasting headquarters. Upon its opening near Shibuya’s Yoyogi Park in 1973, the concert hall’s massive pipe organ sparked Japan’s renewed interest in the instrument. Today the 3500-capacity venue hosts operas, ballets, and the occasional J-pop group in addition to concerts by the NHK Orchestra.

Inside one of Tokyo’s tallest buildings, the 54-story Tokyo Opera City Tower in Shinjuku, is an architectural marvel of a concert hall. Its striking design—pyramid shaped with white oak interiors—is carefully calibrated for an even distribution of sound. Since its opening in 1997, the space’s warm acoustics have made it a popular venue for the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Tokyo Symphonic Orchestra as well as renowned classical musicians like Yo-Yo Ma.

A new Shinjuku cultural district was established when this performing arts center opened in 1997 across from the Tokyo Opera City Tower. (The center’s inaugural presentation was Takeru, an opera by the Japanese composer Ikuma Dan.) The modernist complex is dedicated exclusively to opera, dance, and drama, showcasing a progressive mix of classics (Aida, The Nutcracker) and contemporary productions between its three venues: the grand Opera Palace, the Playhouse, and the intimate Pit.

Like Suntory Hall, this Ikebukuro arts complex has a concert hall exclusively for classical music, designed in the vineyard style. (Nagata Acoustics, the famed acoustical consulting firm, oversaw the design of both spaces.) The venue first opened in 1990, but it gained new life in 2009 when it appointed its first artistic director, the playwright Hideki Noda, who’s made it a mission to modernize the Japanese theater experience with updated classical pieces and experimental stage plays.

The Nippon Steel Corporation opened this venue in Tokyo’s Chiyoda ward in 1995, with an elegant shoebox-style concert hall paneled in cherry wood and offset by giant chandeliers. That 800-seat theater hosts classical chamber music performances, while the adjacent Kioi Small Hall is exclusively for traditional Japanese music, with acoustics designed to properly emphasize the delicate reverberations of bamboo flutes and taiko drums.

Ueno Park is home to spring cherry blossoms, the Ueno Zoo’s pandas, and several museums nestled alongside this 1961 concert hall. The concrete structure is among the best-known works of the architect Kunio Maekawa, a pioneer of Japanese modernism. Its main concert hall, whose walls are a puzzle of beechwood acoustic panels, has hosted Leonard Bernstein, the Royal Ballet, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra; there’s also a smaller recital hall for chamber music showcases.

The acoustics of this Sumida ward concert hall are considered among the best in Japan; it’s one of a few Tokyo venues designed by Nagata Acoustics. Its 1800-seat main hall is the home base of the New Japan Philharmonic, the progressive symphony orchestra founded in 1972 by maestro Seiji Ozawa, a legendary conductor and staunch advocate of modern composers. Here, symphonies perform video game music or soundtracks to Studio Ghibli films alongside more traditional works.

Yamaha Ginza is a music lover’s paradise and the flagship building for the Yamaha brand in the heart of Tokyo’s glitzy shopping district: The 14-floor complex includes one of Japan’s largest musical instrument shops, studios, and a music school. It’s also home to Yamaha Hall, a small but striking 333-seat concert space dedicated to acoustic music performances—mostly classical and jazz—and designed like a giant instrument constructed from mahogany and maple.