More than half a century since it opened in 1960 as one of Japan's first multipurpose cultural centers, and almost exactly four years after its doors last closed, the Kyoto Kaikan will be reborn transformed on Jan. 10 as the ROHM Theatre Kyoto.

Sited against a backdrop of Kyoto's scenic Okazaki Park and Heian Shrine, the building designed by Kunio Maekawa (1905-86) has long been — together with his 1961 Tokyo Bunka Kaikan in Ueno Park — among Japan's foremost examples of postwar modernist architecture.

Despite that, by the time of its closure the 2,000-seat hall not only failed to meet earthquake-safety standards, but its facilities for performers, creators and audiences had become woefully inadequate.