The stage adaptation of Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away has locked in its cast for an upcoming world tour, and three of its former leads are coming back. The production’s official website confirmed the lineup, which covers stops in Taipei, Tokyo, Toronto, Los Angeles and London.
Kanna Hashimoto, Mone Kamishiraishi and Momoko Fukuchi all return as Chihiro. Hashimoto and Kamishiraishi alternated in the role during the play’s first run in 2022, and Fukuchi was one of two actresses who took on Chihiro alongside them in the 2024 run. Marina Mori returns as the Chihiro understudy, a job she also held during the production’s 2024-25 London run and its 2025 Shanghai and 2026 Seoul dates.
Three new names join the company: Nagi Inoue, a member of the idol group Nogizaka46, along with Hana Toyoshima and Kokoro Hirasawa. The website did not say which roles they will play.
Tour dates
- Taipei (National Theater): December 16, 2026 to January 31, 2027
- Tokyo: March to May 2027
- Toronto (Princess of Wales Theatre): May 6 to August 15, 2027
- Los Angeles (Ahmanson Theatre): September 2 to October 24, 2027
- London (London Coliseum): March 2028 onward
Who is behind it
John Caird directs and co-adapts the production with Maoko Imai. Caird is a Tony and Olivier Award winner and an Honorary Associate Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, with credits that include Les Misérables, Nicholas Nickleby and Daddy Long Legs.
The production is not starting from scratch. It ran at the London Coliseum from April to August 2024 and took Best New Play at the 25th Annual WhatsOnStage Awards in London in 2025. Before that, its first Japanese run opened at the Imperial Theatre in February 2022 and toured Osaka, Fukuoka, Sapporo and Nagoya for a total of 102 performances. A second Japanese run followed in 2023 and 2024.
For audiences who could not get to a theater, GKIDS screened recorded performances of both versions in North America in 2023, first with Hashimoto and later with Kamishiraishi.
Why it matters
Stage versions of famous anime have become a steady business in Japan, and the growing list of touring productions suggests the demand travels well. This one has a longer track record than most. It has already played London and Seoul, and the 2027 schedule pushes it into Taiwan and Canada for the first time. It is not travelling alone either. Recent anime stage projects include Osamu Tezuka’s Phoenix Future Arc, and Attack on Titan: The Musical, which also takes its own world tour abroad next year.
The film it comes from sets a high bar. Spirited Away was the highest-grossing Japanese film worldwide until Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train passed it, and it remains one of only two non-English-language titles to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, taking the prize in 2003 before Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron won it in 2024. A live stage version of a film that famous carries obvious expectations, which is part of why the returning cast matters: the production is keeping the performers audiences already paid to see.
For fans in the cities on the list, tickets will be the real test. The London run sold on the strength of the film’s name, and the North American dates in 2027 will be the first chance for many to see the play live rather than as a screening.
Source: Anime News Network.
Featured image: Cast visual for the Spirited Away stage play, via Anime News Network. © Toho Co., Ltd.
