Japan National Stadium - outside inside - 2022 March 20

Drones durante a abertura das Olimpíadas de Tóquio

The Japan National Stadium, officially named and formerly known as or , is 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 ...

used mostly for

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

in Kasumigaoka, Shinjuku,

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

, Japan. The facility served as the main stadium for the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as the venue for

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 eve ...

athletics events at 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 1 ...

and 2020 Summer Paralympics in 2021. Demolition of the old National Stadium was completed in May 2015, allowing for the construction of the new stadium to begin on 11 December 2016. 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: , ; 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 prompted by 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, which was completed on 30 November 2019.

History

After Tokyo submitted their bid for the

, there was talk of possibly renovating or reconstructing the National Olympic Stadium. The stadium would host the opening and closing ceremonies as well as track and field events. In February 2012, it was confirmed that the stadium would be demolished and reconstructed, and receive a £1 billion upgrade. In November 2012, renderings of the new national stadium were revealed, based on a design by architect

Zaha Hadid Dame Zaha Mohammad Hadid ( ar, زها حديد ''Zahā Ḥadīd''; 31 October 1950 – 31 March 2016) was an Iraqi-British architect, artist and designer, recognised as a major figure in architecture of the late 20th and early 21st centu ...

. The stadium was demolished in 2015 and the new one was originally scheduled to be completed in March 2019. The new stadium will be the venue for

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

, rugby, some football games, and the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics and Paralympics. The Japanese government announced several changes to Hadid's design in May 2015, citing budget constraints, including cancelling plans to build a

retractable roof A retractable roof is a roof system designed to roll back the roof of a structure so that the interior of the facility is open to the outdoors. Retractable roofs are sometimes referred to as operable roofs or retractable skylights. The term op ...

and converting some permanent seating to temporary seating. The site area was also reduced from to . Several prominent Japanese architects, including

Toyo Ito is a Japanese architect known for creating conceptual architecture, in which he seeks to simultaneously express the physical and virtual worlds. He is a leading exponent of architecture that addresses the contemporary notion of a "simulated" ...

and

Fumihiko Maki is a Japanese architect who teaches at Keio University SFC. In 1993, he received the Pritzker Prize for his work, which often explores pioneering uses of new materials and fuses the cultures of east and west. Early life Maki was born in Tokyo. ...

, criticized Hadid's design, with Ito comparing it to a turtle and Maki calling it a

white elephant A white elephant is a possession that its owner cannot dispose of, and whose cost, particularly that of maintenance, is out of proportion to its usefulness. In modern usage, it is a metaphor used to describe an object, construction project, sch ...

; others criticized the stadium's encroachment on the outer gardens of the

Meiji Shrine , is a Shinto shrine in Shibuya, Tokyo, that is dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji and his wife, Empress Shōken. The shrine does not contain the emperor's grave, which is located at Fushimi-momoyama, south of Kyoto. History A ...

Arata Isozaki Arata Isozaki (磯崎新, ''Isozaki Arata''; born 23 July 1931) is a Japanese architect, urban designer, and theorist from Ōita. He was awarded the RIBA Gold Medal in 1986 and the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2019. Biography Isozaki was ...

, on the other hand, commented that he was "shocked to see that the dynamism present in the original had gone" in the redesign of Hadid's original plan. The roof of the new stadium was particularly problematic from an engineering perspective, as it required the construction of two steel arches long. Even after design changes, the stadium was estimated to cost over 300 billion yen, more than three times the cost of the London Olympic Stadium and more than five times the cost of the

Beijing Olympic Stadium The National Stadium (), also known as the Bird's Nest (), is an 80,000-capacity stadium in Beijing. The stadium was jointly designed by architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron from Basel-based architecture team Herzog & de Meuron, pr ...

. The Japanese government reached an agreement in June 2015 with

Taisei Corporation is a Japanese corporation founded in 1873. Its main areas of business are building construction, civil engineering, and real estate development. Taisei's headquarters are located at Shinjuku Center Building in Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku, Tokyo. ...

and

Takenaka Corporation is one of five major general contractors in Japan. Takenaka provides architectural, engineering, and construction services and has its headquarters located in Chūō-ku, Osaka, Osaka Prefecture. Takenaka has eight domestic offices in Japan with ...

to complete the stadium for a total cost of around 250 billion yen. The new plan maintained the steel arch design while reducing the permanent capacity of the stadium to 65,000 in track mode with an additional 15,000 simple temporary seats available, allowing for an 80,000 capacity for football and the

. However, on 17 July 2015,

Prime Minister of Japan 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 Sta ...

Shinzō 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 ...

announced that plans to build the new National Stadium would be scrapped and rebid upon amid public discontent over the stadium's building costs. As a result, Abe said that a replacement venue would have to be selected for the Rugby World Cup, as the new stadium would not be ready until the 2020 Olympics. As of 28 August 2015, the Japanese Government released new standards for the National Stadium's reconstruction. The fixed capacity would be 68,000 and be expandable to 80,000 through the use of temporary seats over the athletics track. The government also abandoned the retractable roof; instead a permanent roof will be constructed over the spectator seating only. And also, a sports museum and sky walkway that were part of the scrapped design were eliminated, while VIP lounges and seats were reduced, along with reduced underground parking facilities. These reductions result in a site of 198,500 square meters, 13% less than originally planned. Air conditioning for the stadium was also abandoned upon request of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe, and when asked about the abandonment Minister for the Olympics Toshiaki Endo stated that, "Air conditioners are installed in only two stadiums around the world, and they can only cool temperatures by 2 or 3°C". Concern over indoor temperatures has also been raised, since, for cost reduction, Tokyo's New National Stadium was built without an air conditioner, and the roof was constructed over the spectator seating only. The government slated a decision on contractors and a design by December 2015, with construction to begin at its latest in December 2016. Designers partnered with contractors to submit a design alongside construction cost and timing estimates. It has been revealed that the athletics track will be a permanent feature not to be demolished for the additional 12,000 seats for any future World Cup bid. As of 18 September 2015, two contractors submitted bids for the process: the

working with architect

, and a consortium of several major Japanese contractors including the Takenaka, Shimizu, and Obayashi corporations working with architect

. Former winning architect

was unable to find a (Japanese) contractor willing to work with her design, and was therefore forced to abandon efforts to resubmit her revised design in the new competition. On 21 December 2015, the Japan Sport Council announced that Kuma and the Taisei Corporation had been selected to design and construct the National Olympic Stadium. The stadium began construction in December 2016, and was set to conclude on 30 November 2019 when the stadium would be handed over to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for necessary games and ceremony preparations, including test events. The new design would hold 68,089 in athletics mode with the ability to construct temporary seating over the permanent track to create an increased capacity of 80,016. Capacity during the Olympic Games will be 60,102 taking into account press and executive seating areas. This capacity is further lessened for the Paralympics to 57,750 to add more handicap accessible seating. However, all events were held behind closed doors, so no spectators were allowed. The inauguration took place on 21 December 2019 with a special ceremony. The stadium’s inaugural sporting event, the 2019 Emperor's Cup final, took place on 1 January 2020.

Vissel Kobe is a Japanese professional football club based in Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture. The club plays in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. The team's home stadium is Noevir Stadium Kobe, in Hyōgo-ku, though some home matc ...

won their first ever trophy. In October 2021, the Government of Japan decided to keep the athletics track and scrap the initial plan of removing it for an increased capacity for football and rugby matches, which was originally set in 2017. Additionally, it was announced that the stadium is currently bidding for hosting the

2025 World Athletics Championships The 2025 World Athletics Championships will be the twentieth edition of the World Athletics Championships, and are scheduled to be held in 13-21 september 2025 in Tokyo, Japan. The championships will use the National Stadium, rebuilt for the Tok ...

. The 2025 Athletics Championship will be the first major spectator event for athletics at the stadium.

Concerts

Description

The stadium is unusual in that timber is used as a major component of the structure, all of it sourced from Japan in order to reduce environmental impact. Many of the wooden elements are in modular form, which can be replaced when the timber deteriorates. The

certified wood Certified wood and paper products come from responsibly managed forests – as defined by a particular standard. With third-party forest certification, an independent organization develops standards of good forest management, and independent au ...

has been sourced from all 47

prefectures of Japan Japan is divided into 47 prefectures (, ''todōfuken'', ), which rank immediately below the national government and form the country's first level of jurisdiction and administrative division. They include 43 prefectures proper (, ''ken''), two ...

following a tradition started by the

. The design of the eaves was inspired by the

Hōryū-ji is a Buddhist temple that was once one of the powerful Seven Great Temples, in Ikaruga, Nara Prefecture, Japan. Its full name is , or Learning Temple of the Flourishing Law, the complex serving as both a seminary and monastery. The temple was ...

and incorporates air spaces which make best use of the prevailing wind conditions to ventilate the interior space. Part of the roof incorporates transparent solar panels and rain water is collected in underground cisterns and is used to irrigate the arena turf as well as the numerous plants on the top storey promenade. Accessibility has been a major concern, resulting in more than 450 places for wheelchair users, as well as toilets using the latest technology.

Gallery

Construction

Jingu gaien3b.jpg, November 2016
Empty space of the stadium before construction Kokuritsu Kasumigaoka Rikujo Kyogijo-3.jpg, May 2017 Kokuritsu Kasumigaoka Rikujo Kyogijo-5.jpg, July 2017 Kokuritsu Kasumigaoka Rikujo Kyogijo-6.jpg, September 2017 Kokuritsu Kasumigaoka Rikujo Kyogijo-8.jpg, November 2017 Kokuritsu Kasumigaoka Rikujo Kyogijo-11.jpg, January 2018 Kokuritsu Kasumigaoka Rikujo Kyogijo-13.jpg, March 2018 Kokuritsu Kasumigaoka Rikujo Kyogijo-18b.jpg, August 2018 Kokuritsu_Kasumigaoka_Rikujo_Kyogijo-20d1.jpg, October 2018 Kokuritsu_Kasumigaoka_Rikujo_Kyogijo-23a.jpg, January 2019 Kokuritsu_Kasumigaoka_Rikujo_Kyogijo-25c.jpg, March 2019 Kokuritsu Kasumigaoka Rikujo Kyogijo-27g.jpg, May 2019 Kokuritsu Kasumigaoka Rikujo Kyogijo 190922c.jpg, September 2019 Kokuritsu Kasumigaoka Rikujo Kyogijo 191221b.jpg, December 2019 Kokuritsu Kasumigaoka Rikujo Kyogijo 191221d.jpg, December 2019 Kokuritsu Kasumigaoka Rikujo Kyogijo 191221c.jpg, December 2019 Kokuritsu Kasumigaoka Rikujo Kyogijo 191221g.jpg, December 2019

References

External links

*
Japan National Stadium — Architecture , Kengo Kuma and Associates
{{IAAF World Athletic Championships stadiums

American football in Japan Athletics (track and field) venues in Japan Buildings and structures in Shinjuku Football venues in Japan Japan Olympic athletics venues Olympic rugby venues Rugby union stadiums in Japan Rugby in Kantō Sports venues completed in 2019 Sports venues in Tokyo Venues of the 2020 Summer Olympics 2019 establishments in Japan Kengo Kuma buildings