was a

multi-purpose stadium A multi-purpose stadium is a type of stadium designed to be easily used by multiple types of events. While any stadium could potentially host more than one type of sport or event, this concept usually refers to a specific design philosophy tha ...

in Kasumigaoka,

Shinjuku is a special ward in Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative centre, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world (Shinjuku Station) and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, the administration ...

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 ...

, Japan. The stadium served as the main stadium for the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as being the venue for track and field events at the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this ho ...

. The

Japan national football team The , nicknamed the , represents Japan in men's international Association football, football. It is controlled by the Japan Football Association (JFA), the governing body for football in Japan. Japan was not a major football force until the e ...

's home matches and major football club cup finals were held at the stadium. The stadium's official capacity was 57,363, but the seating capacity was only 48,000 seats. Demolition was completed in May 2015, and the site was redeveloped with a new larger-capacity Olympic Stadium. The new stadium was the main venue for the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

and

Paralympics The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaired ...

. The original plans for the new stadium were scrapped in July 2015 by

Japanese prime minister The prime minister of Japan ( Japanese: 内閣総理大臣, Hepburn: ''Naikaku Sōri-Daijin'') is the head of government of Japan. The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Japan and has the ability to select and dismiss its Ministers of Stat ...

Shinzo Abe Shinzo Abe ( ; ja, 安倍晋三, Hepburn romanization, Hepburn: , ; 21 September 1954 – 8 July 2022) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), President of the Lib ...

, who announced a rebid after a public outcry because of increased building costs. As a result, the new design was not ready for 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 ...

, as originally intended. A new design created by architect

Kengo Kuma is a Japanese architect and professor in the Department of Architecture (Graduate School of Engineering) at the University of Tokyo. Frequently compared to contemporaries Shigeru Ban and Kazuyo Sejima, Kuma is also noted for his prolific writings ...

was chosen in December 2015 to replace the original design and was completed in November 2019.

History

The stadium was completed in 1958 as the Japanese National Stadium on the site of the former Meiji Shrine Outer Park Stadium. Its first major event was the

1958 Asian Games The 1958 Asian Games, officially the Third Asian Games ( ja, 第3回アジア競技大会) and commonly known as Tokyo 1958, was a multi-sport event held in Tokyo, Japan, from 24 May to 1 June 1958. It was governed by the Asian Games Federation. A ...

. The venue was unscathed by 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 ...

. Yasuhiro Nakamori, international relations director for the Japanese Olympic Committee, told

Around the Rings Around the Rings (ATR) is an Internet-based publication covering the business and politics of the Olympic Movement, as well as a wide array of issues in international sports. ATR had its beginnings in the late 1980s when Atlanta was bidding for ...

he attributed the lack of damage to Japan's stringent building codes. The National Stadium has also held a number of music concerts in the past:

The Three Tenors The Three Tenors were an operatic singing trio, active during the 1990s and early 2000s, and termed as a supergroup (a title normally reserved for rock and pop groups) consisting of Italian Luciano Pavarotti and Spaniards Plácido Domingo and ...

(Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo, and Jose Carreras) in 1996,

SMAP SMAP was a Japanese boy band, composed of Masahiro Nakai, Takuya Kimura, Goro Inagaki, Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, and Shingo Katori. The group was created in 1988 by music producer Johnny Kitagawa, founder of Johnny & Associates, originally as a six-pi ...

in 2005, Dreams Come True in 2007,

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(15 concerts between 2008 and 2013),

L'Arc-en-Ciel L'Arc-en-Ciel ( French: 'The Rainbow', stylized as L'Arc~en~Ciel), also known as Laruku, is a Japanese rock band, formed in Osaka in 1991 by bassist tetsuya and vocalist hyde. Following the departure of original members hiro and pero, guitarist ...

in 2012,

Momoiro Clover Z is a Japanese idol girl group, commonly abbreviated as MCZ or . The four members of MCZ are known for energetic performances, incorporating elements of ballet, gymnastics, and action movies. MCZ is notable for being the first female group to ho ...

in 2014,

AKB48 AKB48 (pronounced ''A.K.B. Forty-Eight'') is a Japanese idol girl group named after the Akihabara (''Akiba'' for short) area in Tokyo, where the group's theater is located. AKB48's producer, Yasushi Akimoto, wanted to form a girl group with it ...

in 2014, and finally, the Joint concert "Sayonara National Stadium Final Week Japan Night" on 28 & 29 May 2014, which served as final goodbye to the stadium before being demolished, with artists such as

Ikimono-gakari The romanization of the group's name does not have the hyphen according to Sony's websites for their albums. is a Japanese pop rock musical duo, duo from Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan consisting of Yoshiki Mizuno and Kiyoe Yoshioka. The group starte ...

Gospellers The Gospellers (ゴスペラーズ) are a Japanese a cappella vocal group made up of Tetsuya Murakami, Kaoru Kurosawa, Yuji Sakai, Yoichi Kitayama and Yutaka Yasuoka. History Originally formed by Murakami and Kurosawa (along with 4 other membe ...

Sukima Switch is a Japanese rock/jazz fusion duo consisting of core members , born May 9, 1978, and , born February 25, 1978, formed in 1999. Formerly with BMG Japan (bought by SMEJ in early 2009), they signed with Sony Music Japan's Ariola Japan label in Se ...

Naoto Inti Raymi , better known by his stage name , is a Japanese singer-songwriter and composer. He was born in Mie Prefecture in Japan and later grew up in Chiba Prefecture. For two years from 2001, he used his given name Naoto as his stage name. In 2001, whil ...

Funky Kato , known by his stage name , is a Japanese singer-songwriter. He is best known as the vocalist of the band Funky Monkey Babys, which disbanded in 2013. History Funky Kato was working as a member of FUNKY MONKEY BABYS from the band's beginnings i ...

, Sekai no Owari,

Perfume Perfume (, ; french: parfum) is a mixture of fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agreeable scent. Th ...

Man with a Mission Man with a Mission, stylized as MAN WITH A MISSION or sometimes as MWAM, is a Japanese rock band which was formed in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, in 2010. The band currently consists of five band members, with stage names of Tokyo Tanaka (vocals, lead ...

, among others.

Notable events

* 1958:

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

* 1964:

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

* 1967:

Summer Universiade The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad". The Universiade is referred t ...

* 1967–2013:

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 ...

final * 1976–1979:

Japan Bowl The Japan Bowl (in Japanese, ジャパンボウル) was a post-season college football all-star game played in Japan each January from 1976 to 1993, which showcased East and West all-star teams made up of college football players from the United S ...

* 1979:

FIFA World Youth Championship The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members’ men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 wh ...

* 1981–2001: Intercontinental Cup * 1991:

World Championships in Athletics The World Athletics Championships (until 2019 known as the World Championships in Athletics) are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics (formerly IAAF, International Association of Athletics Federations). Alongside the Ol ...

* 1993: J.League Opening Match (

Verdy Kawasaki is a Japanese professional football club based in Inagi, Tokyo. The club plays in the J2 League, the second tier of football in the country. Founded as Yomiuri F.C. in 1969, Tokyo Verdy is one of the most decorated clubs in the J.League, with ...

Yokohama Marinos is a Japanese professional football club based in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, part of the Greater Tokyo Area. The club competes in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Having won the J-League title four times and ...

) * 1993:

FIFA U-17 World Championship The FIFA U-17 World Cup, founded as the FIFA U-16 World Championship, later changed to U-17 in 1991 and to its current name in 2007, is the world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by ''Fédération ...

* 1996:

Concert * 2002: PRIDE Shockwave 2002 * 2003: Japan Top League Opening Match * 2005–2008:

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...

* 2009: AFC Champions League Final * 2010: AFC Champions League Final

Transportation

Access to the stadium was from

Sendagaya is an area within Shibuya ward, one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo. Introduction Sendagaya is nestled in an urban green area in Shibuya ward between Shinjuku ward and Shinjuku Gyo-en (Shinjuku Imperial Gardens) to the north (an area in Senda ...

or Shinanomachi stations along the JR Chūō-Sōbu Line; from Kokuritsu Kyogijo Station on the

Toei Oedo Line Toei or Tōei may refer to: * Tōei, Aichi, Japan * Toei Company, Japanese film and television production company ** Toei Animation, their animation subsidiary * , Japanese abbreviation meaning "operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government" **Tran ...

; and from Gaienmae Station on the

Tokyo Metro Ginza Line The is a subway line in Tokyo, Japan, operated by Tokyo Metro. The official name is . It is 14.3 km long and serves the wards of Shibuya, Minato, Chūō, Chiyoda, and Taitō. It is the oldest subway line in Asia. The line was named af ...

References

External links

*
Satellite photo of the stadium from Google MapsNational Stadium, Tokyo
{{Coord, 35, 40, 41, N, 139, 42, 53, E, type:landmark, display=title

Sports venues in Tokyo Stadiums of the Asian Games

Japan 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 ...

Athletics (track and field) venues in Japan Rugby union stadiums in Japan Rugby in Kantō Sports venues completed in 1958 Venues of the 1964 Summer Olympics Olympic athletics venues Olympic equestrian venues Olympic football venues Venues of the 1958 Asian Games Asian Games athletics venues Asian Games football venues Buildings and structures in Shinjuku American football venues in Japan Sports venues demolished in 2015 Defunct football venues in Japan Demolished buildings and structures in Japan Defunct sports venues in Japan 1958 establishments in Japan 2015 disestablishments in Japan