is an indoor sporting arena located in

Namba is a district of Osaka, Japan. It is located in Chūō and Naniwa wards. Namba is regarded as the center of so-called ''Minami'' ("South") area of Osaka. Its name is one of variations on the former name of Osaka, '' Naniwa''. Namba is be ...

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

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 ...

. It first opened in 1952 and the current building was constructed in 1987. It is the venue of a professional

sumo is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by thr ...

tournament (

honbasho A is an official professional sumo tournament. The number of ''honbasho'' every year has varied along the years; since 1958 there are six tournaments every year. Only ''honbasho'' results matter in determining promotion and relegation for ''riki ...

) held in March every year. The capacity of the arena is 8,000 people. Its total revenue for the 2006 fiscal year was 260 million

yen The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar (US$) and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the e ...

, of which sumo provided 80 million. In April 2008 the

Japan Sumo Association The is the body that operates and controls professional sumo wrestling (called ''Ōzumō'', 大相撲) in Japan under the jurisdiction of the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). ''Rikishi'' (active ...

made clear its surprise at plans by the prefectural government to demolish the gymnasium and sell the vacant lot. In March 2012, the arena was renamed after the naming rights were sold to sports apparel company BB Sports for the next three years. The name was changed back in April 2015, when BB Sports did not renew their deal. In June 2015, the Edion Corporation signed a three-year deal for the arena's naming rights, renaming it . It has hosted several professional wrestling shows, including

Osaka Hurricane Osaka Hurricane was the annual flagship professional wrestling event produced by Osaka Pro Wrestling between 2003 and 2012. The event was held during the month of February. The event was considered the biggest event of Osaka Pro. It was introduced ...

from 2005 to 2012,

NJPW Dominion Dominion is an annual professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event has been held annually since 2009 as a pay-per-view (PPV). From 2013 to 2014, the event also aired outside Japan as an Internet pay-per-view ( ...

from 2009 to 2014,

NJPW Power Struggle Power Struggle is an annual professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event has been held since 2011 and aired domestically as a pay-per-view (PPV). From 2012 to 2014, the event also aired outside Japan as an int ...

since 2011, and

The New Beginning in Osaka The New Beginning is an annual professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event has been held since 2011 as a pay-per-view (PPV). From 2013 to 2014, the event also aired outside Japan as an internet pay-per-view ...

since 2012. The venue hosted the Rizin 19 mixed martial arts fight on October 12, 2019.

Cultural references

*The Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium is featured in the manga/anime series Fighting Spirit (''Hajime no Ippo'') as one of the venues the boxers fight at. It is also included in the video game adaptation of the series,

Victorious Boxers ''Victorious Boxers: Ippo's Road to Glory'', known as simply ''Victorious Boxers'', is a boxing video game developed by New Corporation for the PlayStation 2 video game console. It is based on the ''Hajime no Ippo'' franchise. The game was release ...

Access

* Namba Station -

Nankai Electric Railway is a private railway in Japan, founded in 1884. The name ''Nankai'' (which means "South Sea") comes from the company's routes along the Nankaidō, the old highway that ran south from the old capital, Kyoto, along the sea coast. Nankai predates a ...

(250m from South Exit),

Osaka Metro The is a major rapid transit system in the Osaka Metropolitan Area of Japan, operated by the Osaka Metro Company, Ltd. It serves the city of Osaka and the adjacent municipalities of Higashiosaka, Kadoma, Moriguchi, Sakai, Suita, and Yao. O ...

(350m from Exit 5) *

Ōsaka Namba Station is a railway station on the Kintetsu Namba Line and Hanshin Namba Line in the Namba district of Chūō-ku, Osaka, Japan. It is adjacent to Namba Station and JR Namba Station. Trains of the Nara Line depart from and arrive at the station. ...

Kintetsu Namba Line The is a Japanese railway line owned by the Kintetsu Railway. The line connects Fuse Station in the eastern suburbs of Osaka to Kintetsu Nara Station in the historic city of Nara, Nara, Nara, though operationally, the line begins at Ōsaka Nam ...

Hanshin Namba Line The is a railway line operated by the private railway operator Hanshin Electric Railway connecting Amagasaki Station in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, and Ōsaka Namba Station in Chuo-ku, Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. History The , the pre ...

(600m) * JR Namba Station -

West Japan Railway Company , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, and ...

(JR West)

Kansai Main Line The is a railway line in Japan, which connects Nagoya Station with JR Namba Station in Osaka. It is jointly run by the Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) and West Japan Railway Company (JR West), with the boundary between both comp ...

(

Yamatoji Line The is the common name of the western portion of the Kansai Main Line. The line is owned and operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West), and starts at Kamo Station in Kyoto Prefecture and ends at JR Namba Station in Naniwa-ku, Osaka. O ...

) (800m)

References

External links

Official website
Basketball venues in Japan Indoor arenas in Japan Osaka Evessa Sports venues in Osaka Sumo venues in Japan Volleyball venues in Japan Boxing venues in Japan Judo venues {{japan-stadium-stub