Will Tuckett’s production for the National Ballet of Japan revisits The Nutcracker with choreography after Lev Ivanov. Created for the 2025/26 season, it uses Tchaikovsky’s music with adaptations by Martin Yates and designs by Colin Richmond.
The Christmas Day recording
Recorded on 25 December 2025 at the Opera Palace, New National Theatre Tokyo, this performance features Yui Yonezawa as Clara/Sugar Plum Fairy and Takafumi Watanabe as Drosselmeyer’s Assistant/Nutcracker Prince. Yudai Fukuoka dances Drosselmeyer. Yates conducts the Tokyo Philharmonic.
Follow Clara through the story
The paired credits offer a useful viewing question: how do the performers connect the everyday characters with their roles in the fantasy? Follow those transitions alongside the music. Explore The Nutcracker to compare other productions and approaches to the story.
Free replay
NNTT Stream advertises free access without registration until 31 December 2026 at 12:00 CET / 20:00 JST. Its service FAQ states that viewers abroad can access its content. Playback from Spain has not been independently tested.
Check the free replay on NNTT Stream ↗
The same recording is also presented by OperaVision; check that provider’s own access conditions.
Sources
- https://www.nntt.jac.go.jp/english/news/ballet/ballet-nutcracker-streaming-2026.html
- https://www.nntt.jac.go.jp/english/stream/
- https://operavision.eu/performance/nutcracker-0
Sources checked: 4 November 2026. Provider conditions may change.
Explore the company and artists
National Ballet of Japan is the company behind this staging. Explore Will Tuckett for the choreographic context.
In this recording
- Yui Yonezawa — Clara / Sugar Plum Fairy
- Takafumi Watanabe — Assistant / Nutcracker Prince
These links identify the performers in the recording described above.