It is now 100 years since the start of World War I, which claimed close to 17 million lives before it ended in November 1918. Hence the Tokyo opening of "War Horse" — a play set during that so-called "war to end war" — serves in part as a memorial to the awful conflict.

Featuring life-size, man-powered puppets alongside its cast of actors, this thrilling work being staged in English with Japanese subtitles is based on an eponymous 1982 children's book by the 70-year-old English author Michael Morpurgo.

Its two main protagonists are Albert, a farm boy from an English village, and the horse he raises and loves, named Joey. After Joey is taken by the army and sent to the battlefields in France, Albert joins up in order to search for him. However, amid a hell of muck and blood, Albert is wounded — but still he's thinking about Joey. Will they ever be reunited ... ?