is a sports

stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

used primarily for

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

. The stadium is in Fukuroi City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, although the stadium itself is merely the centrepiece of the larger Ogasayama Sports Park which extends into neighbouring

Kakegawa is a city in western Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 117,925 in 45,519 households. The total area of the city is . Geography Kakegawa is in the coastal plains of southwest Shizuoka Prefecture. It is border ...

. The stadium's capacity is 50,889. It is now the primary venue for major sporting events in Shizuoka Prefecture, including

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

, for which it is fully equipped.

Usage

Shizuoka Stadium opened in 2001 and hosted its first major event on May 12th 2001, which was the Shizuoka Derby

J. League The , officially is Japan's professional football league including the first division J1 League, second division J2 League and third division J3 League of the Japanese association football league system. J1 League is one of the most succe ...

match between

Shimizu S-Pulse is a professional Japanese football club. Located in Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka, Shizuoka Prefecture, S-Pulse currently competes in the J2 League (J2). The club was formed in 1991 as a founding member of the J.League (''"Original Ten"''), which began ...

and

Júbilo Iwata is a professional Japanese association football team that currently play in the J2 League. The team name ''Júbilo'' means 'joy' in Spanish and Portuguese. The team's hometown is Iwata, Shizuoka prefecture and they play at Yamaha Stadium. For ...

. A record crowd of 52,959 saw an extra time 1-0 victory for Shimizu. Ecopa continues to be the venue for Júbilo Iwata's more high-profile games, including the Shizuoka Derby. Shimizu S-Pulse have not used the stadium for a home league since

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

. In recent years Ecopa has also been home to one semifinal match of the

Emperor's Cup , commonly known as or also Japan FA Cup is a Japanese football competition. It has the longest tradition of any football match in Japan, dating back to 1921, before the formation of the J.League, Japan Football League and their predecessor, J ...

, sharing the duty with the Kasumigaoka in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, although due to its isolation and the fact that both semifinals are held at the same time, Ecopa usually has less attendance. The stadium played host to some matches during the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

, including Belgium versus Russia in the group stage (which Belgium won 3–2) and the quarter-final match between Brazil and England, which Brazil won 2–1. It hosted the 2003 58th

National Sports Festival of Japan The is the national premier sports event of Japan. It consists of three stages. The skating and ice hockey stage takes place in January, the skiing stage takes place in February, and the main Autumn tournament takes place in September and Octob ...

main stadium. The stadium was used as one of the venues for

2019 Rugby World Cup The 2019 Rugby World Cup was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening match ...

(Japan) which was the first

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

to be held in Asia. Next to the stadium is the indoor

Ecopa Arena Ecopa Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Fukuroi, Japan. The capacity of the arena is 10,000 and was opened in 2001. Other facilities * Ecopa Stadium Access Train * JR: Tokaido Main Line, Aino Station (Shizuoka)\Aino Station Car * T ...

which is used for various performances and shows.

Access

Aino Station was constructed at the same time as the stadium and is a fifteen-minute walk from the stadium. Aino Station is four minutes west of

Kakegawa Station is an interchange railway station in the city of Kakegawa, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, jointly operated by Central Japan Railway Company (JR Tōkai). It is connected to the adjacent Tenryū-Hamanako Railway Kakegawa Station, which is located ...

, the nearest

Shinkansen The , colloquially known in English as the bullet train, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan. Initially, it was built to connect distant Japanese regions with Tokyo, the capital, to aid economic growth and development. Beyond l ...

station to Ecopa. When the stadium is used for J. League or international fixtures, shuttle buses run from Kakegawa station to the stadium. The walk from Aino Station to the stadium is notable for the sixteen works of art which line the route. These were commissioned to commemorate the 2002 World Cup, with each art piece being designed by an artist from a previous host of the competition.

2002 FIFA World Cup matches

The following matches were played at Shizuoka Stadium during the 2002 World Cup:

2019 Rugby World Cup matches

The following matches were played at Shizuoka Stadium during the 2019 Rugby World Cup:

References

External links

Official site of Ecopa
{{2019 Rugby World Cup venues 2002 FIFA World Cup stadiums in Japan Football venues in Japan Rugby union stadiums in Japan Athletics (track and field) venues in Japan Shimizu S-Pulse Júbilo Iwata Sports venues in Shizuoka Prefecture Sports venues completed in 2001 Fukuroi, Shizuoka 2001 establishments in Japan