Located near Osaka Castle, the Otsuki Noh Theatre has been around since before the war. It opened in 1935 as an unusual Noh theatre, replacing the box seats that were common at the time with chairs. It is one of the few Noh theatres in the Kansai region that escaped the ravages of war, and has continued to hold Noh performances even after the war. Its unique features include a life-size replica of the largest stone wall of Osaka Castle as the backdrop for the bridge, and a reverberation time of about one second, in consideration of the musical characteristics of Noh. It has a capacity of 502 seats. In 2007, as part of its "70th anniversary commemoration" project, it will carry out various plans and innovations throughout the year, such as parent-child appreciation classes, citizen participation performances, and delayed start times for regular performances, as well as setting up an explanation corner and a demonstration experience class. Noh is an ancient Japanese traditional performing art that was perfected during the Muromachi period and is said to be the world's oldest surviving performing art. It has also been declared an Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO. At the Otsuki Noh Theatre, in addition to classical works, new Noh pieces are also performed, spreading the appeal of Noh to future generations.