At the coming of autumn, their bodies were covered in long, golden hairs. A golden hue in the purest sense, into which no other shade could intrude. The very essence of gold, made manifest in this world. They bore the most perfect golden hue that might be found between heaven and earth.”
Haruki Murakami, La Fin des temps ; traduit du japonais par Corinne Atlan, Paris, Seuil, « Points », 2013, p. 22.
Revealed to the wider public in 1989, on the occasion of the bicentennial celebration of the French Revolution, Philippe Decouflé contributed, alongside Jean-Paul Goude, to the creation of the Parisian parade Bleu Blanc Goude, along the avenue des Champs-Élysées.
Three years later, he became the creative force behind the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1992 Winter Olympic Games in Albertville. It was in the wake of this event that he met the Japanese producer Miyako Kanamori, who entrusted him with the adaptation of the Japanese tale Dora into a musical, first staged in Tokyo in 1996.
Twenty years on, Philippe Decouflé created, in Kanagawa, My Name is Shingo, another musical, drawn from the science fiction manga by Kazuo Umezu.
And in 2026, Miyako Kanamori asked Philippe Decouflé to create the very first stage adaptation of one of the novels by Haruki Murakami, one of the most widely read contemporary Japanese writers in the world: Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World.
Under the author’s benevolent gaze, the French choreographer embarked upon a work of total art, weaving together theatre, music, and dance, drawing upon the codes of the musical, Les Parapluies de Cherbourg, West Side Story, as well as upon the Kabuki tradition, an epic form of Japanese theatre.
Philippe Decouflé directed a company of nine actors and ten dancers in a hybrid production, lasting two hours and forty-five minutes, in which a work of more than seven hundred pages was distilled. Both director and choreographer, he charted and sought the refinement required to bring Haruki Murakami’s novel to the stage.
Thus was born a singular form of dialog, in which the principal character was divided into three entities, ‘I’, ‘me’, and ‘my shadow’.”
Strikingly brought to life by the Japanese star Tatsuya Fujiwara, La Fin des temps unfolds across two parallel worlds. In 1985, in Tokyo, a man has lost his great love.
Poised between the life of the protagonist and the realm of his own dreams, both the novel and the stage work probe our shared humanity as much as they lay bare the fragility of a being wandering through a dystopian, dreamlike world.
Did you know you can make your visit an unforgettable and unique experience?
With our premium package, you’ll enjoy benefits reserved for the select few: a personalized welcome from a member of the Châtelet’s management team, a private backstage tour before the show begins, a reserved table at the bar during intermission with a glass of champagne and a tasting platter, as well as priority coat check and valet parking if needed.
Enjoy the magic of the show to the fullest—Le Châtelet takes care of the rest!
Price: €125 per person (in addition to the ticket price for the show)
The premium package will be offered to you after you add one or more Category 1 tickets to your cart for dates on which the premium package is available.
Secrets d’une œuvre
To learn more about La Fin des temps, a presentation of the show will be held 45 minutes before the performance begins in the Salon Diaghilev, led by Aurélien Poidevin, editorial director of the Châtelet, on Friday, October 16, and Tuesday, October 20, 2026 (free admission, reserved for ticket holders for that day’s performance).
Bord de scène le dimanche 18 octobre 2026 à l’issue de la représentation
