, also known as Kamaishi Unosumai Stadium, is a stadium in Unosumai-cho,

Kamaishi, Iwate is a city located on the Sanriku rias coast in Iwate Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 32,609, and a population density of 74 persons per km2, in 16,230 households. The total area of the city is Geography Kamaishi is ...

. Construction on the 16,187-seat venue broke ground in April 2017 and it was completed on 19 August 2018. It hosted one pool match during the

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 ...

, with another scheduled match that was cancelled due to

Typhoon Hagibis Typhoon Hagibis, known in Japan as Typhoon No.19 or , was a large and costly tropical cyclone that caused widespread destruction in Japan. The thirty-eighth depression, ninth typhoon, and third super typhoon of the 2019 Pacific typhoon season, ...

History

The city of Kamaishi historically hosted one of Japan's most successful rugby union clubs,

Nippon Steel Kamaishi Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, which won several national titles during the 1970s and 1980s. The club folded in 2001 and was replaced by the

Kamaishi Seawaves Kamaishi Seawaves is a Rugby union football club in Kamaishi, Iwate Prefecture, Japan. It was established in 2001. At its inception, it was known as Nippon Steel Corporation Kamaishi. Current squad The Kamaishi Seawaves squad for the 2023 sea ...

. Kamaishi suffered major damage during the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six minutes ...

, leaving over 1,000 residents dead or missing, and damaging a large portion of the city. In 2014, the municipal government announced that it would bid to host part of the

and build a new stadium as part of the Unosumai area's post-disaster recovery. The stadium, to be located on the former site of schools that were destroyed in the tsunami, was named as one of twelve venues selected in March 2015 by

World Rugby World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rug ...

for the tournament. The 3 billion cost of the stadium attracted criticism from residents and observers, noting that the area was in need of rebuilt infrastructure and permanent housing for displaced residents. Construction on the stadium began in April 2017, with a groundbreaking and prayer ceremony, and was completed in July 2018. The stadium opened on 19 August 2018 for an exhibition match between the Kamaishi Seawaves and

Yamaha Júbilo Shizuoka Blue Revs (formerly the Yamaha Júbilo) are a rugby union team based in Iwata, Shizuoka, Japan. The team came second behind Toshiba Brave Lupus in the second season of Japanese rugby's Top League (2004–05). They were coached by former A ...

, attended by 6,000 people. Unosumai Station on JR East's Yamada Line will be rebuilt to serve the stadium. The stadium will be expanded to 16,000 seats for the 2019 Rugby World Cup and host two group matches. The city government also plans to promote the stadium in Japan's bid to host the

2023 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup is scheduled to be the ninth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup competition, the quadrennial international women's football championship contested by the women's national association football teams organised ...

. Two pool matches of the

were scheduled to be played at the stadium, but only one was contested, with

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

achieving an upset victory over

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

on 25 September. The match between

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

scheduled for 13 October 2019 was cancelled due to the effects of

on the local area.

Design

The stadium used 10,000 temporary seats for the 2019 Rugby World Cup, with 6,000 permanent seats remaining after the tournament. The temporary seating uses local

Japanese cedar ''Cryptomeria'' (literally "hidden parts") is a Monotypic taxon, monotypic genus of Pinophyta, conifer in the cypress family (biology), family Cupressaceae, formerly belonging to the family Taxodiaceae. It includes only one species, ''Cryptomeri ...

that was harvested after a

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...

in 2017. It is the first venue in Japan to use AirFibr, a type of

hybrid grass Hybrid grass or reinforced natural grass is a product created by combining natural lawn grass with reinforcing synthetic fibres. It is used for stadiums and training pitches used for association football, rugby, gridiron football and cricket. Rein ...

surface.

2019 Rugby World Cup matches

References

{{2019 Rugby World Cup venues Sports venues completed in 2018 2018 establishments in Japan Rugby union stadiums in Japan Sports venues in Iwate Prefecture Kamaishi, Iwate