Yoyogi National Stadium
A 1964 Olympic venue with a notable suspension roof design.
Tucked inside Tokyo's Shibuya ward at Yoyogi Park, Yoyogi National Stadium—also called Yoyogi National Gymnasium—is a sports facility built for the 1964 Summer Olympics. Its main draw is the First Gymnasium, famous for its suspension roof design, while the Second Gymnasium, also referred to as the "Annex," serves as a secondary arena. The stadium is regularly used for sport and entertainment events, and its location near Harajuku Station and adjacent NHK studios means images of the arena regularly appear at the end of NHK Newsline broadcasts.
Quick Facts
- Nickname
- Yoyogi National Gymnasium
- Location
- 2-1, Jinnan, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan
- Groundbreaking
- 1963
- Opened
- 1964
- Owner
- Japan Sport Council
- Architect
- Kenzo Tange
- Capacity
- 1st Gymnasium: 12,898 (maximum), 8,774 (sport); 2nd Gymnasium: 4,002 (maximum), 2,811 (sport)
Facts from the source article.
Facilities
The First Gymnasium seats 12,898 people, with 8,774 stand seats and 4,124 arena seats, and has an arena area of 4000 m2. The Second Gymnasium, also called the Annex, seats 4,002 people, with 2,803 fixed seats and 1,191 arena seats, and an arena area of 1300 m2. Additional facilities include an indoor swimming pool and futsal courts. The stadium hosts basketball, handball, table tennis, and concerts, and is located near Harajuku Station.
History
Design of Yoyogi National Stadium began in 1961 by Kenzō Tange with engineer Yoshikatsu Tsuboi for the 1964 Summer Olympics. The bid was approved 20 months before the games and construction took 18 months. It opened on October 10, 1964. The First Gymnasium held swimming and diving events; the Second Gymnasium held basketball. Both were designed by Tange and built simultaneously. The stadium inspired the design for the Olympic Stadium for the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. In 1987, Tange received the Pritzker Architecture Prize, with the citation describing the stadium as "among the most beautiful buildings of the 20th century." It hosted handball at the 2020 Summer Olympics and several events at the 2020 Summer Paralympics. In 2021, it was designated an Important Cultural Property in Japan for being "a monumental example of postwar architecture with a dynamic exterior and magnificent interior space."
Events
The stadium hosted swimming and diving at the 1964 Summer Olympics, basketball at the 1964 Summer Olympics, the 1977 World Figure Skating Championships, the official 1971 Asian Basketball Championship for men, the official 1982 Asian Basketball Championship for Women, and the 1985 World Figure Skating Championships. It held the first regular-season National Hockey League games outside North America and in Japan, between the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and Vancouver Canucks in October 1997, with the NHL returning in 1998 and 2000 with different teams. The finals of the 2006 and 2010 Women's Volleyball World Championship took place there. Since 2007, the Foundation of Japan Cheerleading Association's Cheerleading Asia International Open Championships have been held there. Handball at the 2020 Summer Olympics was held at the venue. Concerts include Queen on 11 May 1985, recorded in We Are the Champions: Final Live in Japan; Westlife on 4 and 5 June 2001; Kishidan in 2004; DJ Ozma in December 2006; SMTown Live '10 World Tour on 25 and 26 January 2011; Girls' Generation on 17, 18, 28, and 29 June 2011 and 11–13 July 2014; Nogizaka46 on 6 October 2013; Luna Sea on 29 May 2014; Yukari Tamura on 28 June 2015; UVERworld on 3 and 6 September 2015; JYP NATION 2016; YuiKaori on 11 February 2017; Shouta Aoi on 12 February 2017; and Haruna Kojima's graduation concert from AKB48 on 21 and 22 February 2017. Stardom The Conversion took place on 22 June 2024.
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