was a multi-purpose stadium 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 37.46 ...

, 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 h ...

. The

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'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

Shinzo Abe Shinzo Abe ( ; ja, 安倍晋三, 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 (LDP) from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 20 ...

, 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 writin ...

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 venue was unscathed by the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami The occurred at 14:46 Japan Standard Time, JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The Moment magnitude scale, magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) Submarine earthquake, undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peni ...

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

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(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- ...

in 2005, Dreams Come True in 2007,

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(15 concerts between 2008 and 2013),

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in 2012,

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in 2014,

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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 duo from Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan consisting of Yoshiki Mizuno and Kiyoe Yoshioka. The group started in Febru ...

, Gospellers,

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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, wh ...

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, Sekai no Owari,

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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 ina ...

* 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 ...

* 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 * 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 * 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, wit ...

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 tim ...

) * 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 ''Fédératio ...

* 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 Send ...

or Shinanomachi stations along the JR Chūō-Sōbu Line; from Kokuritsu Kyogijo Station on the Toei Oedo Line; and from Gaienmae Station on the Tokyo Metro Ginza Line.

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 n ...

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