Fukuoka Yahuoku! Dome
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, officially the is a domed
baseball field A baseball field, also called a ball field or baseball diamond, is the field upon which the game of baseball is played. The term can also be used as a metonym for a baseball park. The term sandlot is sometimes used, although this usually refer ...
located in Chūō-ku,
Fukuoka is the List of Japanese cities by population, sixth-largest city in Japan and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancient times. ...
, Japan. Home to the
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture. They compete in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) as a member of the Pacific League. Founded on February 22, 1938, as the Nankai Club, being the first Kansai t ...
, the 40,000 seat stadium was built in 1993 and was originally named Fukuoka Dome. It is Japan's first stadium built with 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 o ...
, and was the only baseball stadium in Japan with one until the opening of
Es Con Field Hokkaido is a baseball stadium located in Kitahiroshima, Hokkaido, Japan. The ballpark is owned by and operated by Nippon Ham, which has used it as the home field for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) since its openin ...
in 2023. It is the largest primary home stadium in the
Pacific League The , or , or the , due to sponsorship reasons, is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship competes against the winner in the Central League for the a ...
.


History

Fukuoka Dome is the home stadium of
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture. They compete in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) as a member of the Pacific League. Founded on February 22, 1938, as the Nankai Club, being the first Kansai t ...
and, together with Hilton Fukuoka Sea Hawk Hotel, is part of the Hawks Town entertainment complex. It is located near Momochi Beach, and a 15 minute walk from
Tōjinmachi Station is a train station located in Chūō-ku, Fukuoka, Chūō-ku. The station's symbol mark is a jar which is designed the arabesque Scroll (art), scroll to look like the letter "". It has the station number "K05". Lines * ** Platforms File:View ...
, a part of the
Fukuoka City Subway The serves Fukuoka, Japan. The lines are operated by the Fukuoka City Transportation Bureau. Unlike most other public operators in Japan, the company only operates subways without any bus lines. All stations are equipped with automatic platf ...
system. In 2003
Colony Capital DigitalBridge Group, Inc. is a global digital infrastructure investment firm. The company owns, invests in and operates businesses such as cell towers, data centers, fiber, small cells, and edge infrastructure. Headquartered in Boca Raton, Digita ...
purchased the stadium with accompanying hotels from
Daiei , based in Kobe, Hyōgo, is one of the largest supermarket chains in Japan. In 1957, Isao Nakauchi founded the chain in Osaka near Sembayashi Station on the Keihan train line. Daiei is now under a restructuring process supported by Marubeni ...
, in the process Colony assumed ¥60 billion in debts with the properties along with a ¥15 billion capital infusion for renovations. After the sale of the stadium's primary tenant, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, from supermarket chain
Daiei , based in Kobe, Hyōgo, is one of the largest supermarket chains in Japan. In 1957, Isao Nakauchi founded the chain in Osaka near Sembayashi Station on the Keihan train line. Daiei is now under a restructuring process supported by Marubeni ...
to multinational technology investment company
SoftBank is a Japanese multinational Investment company, investment holding company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, that focuses on investment management. The group primarily invests in companies operating in technology that offer goods and services ...
on January 28, 2005,
Yahoo! Japan is a Japanese web portal. It was the most-visited website in Japan, nearing monopolistic status. According to ''The Japan Times'', as of 2012, Yahoo! Japan had a footprint on the internet market in Japan. In terms of use as a search engine, ...
, one of SoftBank's
subsidiaries A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidiary company. Unl ...
, acquired the stadium's
naming rights Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization where a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event (most often sports venues), typical ...
, and thus renamed it or abbreviated as . At the same time, SoftBank agreed to lease the rights to the Fukuoka Dome for 4.8 billion yen per year for 20 years. In 2006, the stadium received an upgrade to its mono-color main scoreboard "Hawks Vision." Sharing the same nickname as its predecessor and measured at 10 m (32.76 ft) high and 53 m (173.86 ft) wide, it was one of the largest high-definition electronic scoreboards at the time, equivalent to a 2,123-inch wide-screen display. In 2010, with further addition of two 5.7 m (120.65 ft) × 33 m (108.27 ft) displays, the stadium boasted the largest total viewing area of HD display in all baseball stadia (total area 905.2sqm or 9,743.49sqft). On April 12, 2007, the Fukuoka Dome and Hawks Town complex was sold to an affiliate of the
GIC GIC may refer to: Education * Ghana Insurance College, in Accra, Ghana * Government Intermediate College, a type of school in India * Grait International College in Nigeria * Gyosei International College in the U.K., defunct Finance * General ...
. In 2009, the older, short-pile
AstroTurf AstroTurf is an American subsidiary of SportGroup that produces artificial turf for pitch (sports field), playing surfaces in sports. The original AstroTurf product was a pile (textile), short-pile synthetic turf invented in 1965 by Monsanto. Si ...
field was replaced with the more modern grass-like
FieldTurf FieldTurf is a brand of artificial turf playing surface. It is manufactured and installed by FieldTurf Tarkett, a division of French company Tarkett. FieldTurf is headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and its primary manufacturing facility i ...
brand surface to reduce injuries; the Hawks players had seen far more injuries than any other team in Japan prior to the field being replaced. On March 24, 2012, SoftBank purchased the stadium from the GIC affiliate for 87 billion yen. The stadium became fully owned by the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks Marketing Corporation on July 1, 2015. The adjacent shopping mall was sold to
Mitsubishi Estate is one of the largest real estate developers in Japan and is involved in property management and architecture research and design. As of 2018, Mitsubishi Estate has the most valuable portfolio in the Japanese real estate industry, with a total ...
on January 22, 2015. In January 2013, it was renamed to . Yafuoku is the abbreviation for
Yahoo! Auctions Yahoo! Auctions is a service set up by the online search giant Yahoo! in 1998 to compete against eBay. There are currently only two localizations of the service active iTaiwananJapan Yahoo! has discontinued the service in the United States, Canad ...
in Japan. On October 30, 2019, it was announced that the stadium was going to be renamed again to , in reference to the payment system
PayPay is a Japanese company that develops electronic payment services owned by LY Corporation. It was established in 2018 as a joint venture between the SoftBank Group and Yahoo! Japan, Yahoo Japan through Z Holdings, their holding company. With 38 ...
owned by SoftBank (50%) and Yahoo Japan (25%), on February 29, 2020. On April 25, 2024, it was announced that the stadium would be getting additional sponsorship rights from
Mizuho Financial Group The , known from 2000 to 2003 as Mizuho Holdings and abbreviated as MHFG or simply Mizuho, is a Japanese banking holding company headquartered in the Ōtemachi district of Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The group was formed in 2000-2002 by merger of Dai- ...
, creating Mizuho PayPay Dome Fukuoka as a symbol of unity between Mizuho and SoftBank Group, which have close ties to each other. The Fukuoka Dome has hosted one game in each
Major League Baseball Japan All-Star Series The MLB Japan All-Star Series is an irregular end-of-the-season tour of Japan made by an All-Star team from Major League Baseball (MLB) since 1986, contested in a best-of format against the All-Stars from Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) or r ...
since its creation, including the final game of the 2006 series, where Japan was swept for the first time in the history of the event. In the TV series ''
Extreme Engineering ''Extreme Engineering'' is a documentary television series that aired on the Discovery Channel and the Science Channel. The program featured future and ongoing engineering projects. After ending of season 3 it airs under the ''Build It Bigger'' ...
'', Danny Forster makes a reference to the Fukuoka Dome, saying it was said to have a "floating" field. (An indoor baseball stadium in Japan which actually has a floating field is
Sapporo Dome The , currently known as for sponsorship reasons, is a stadium located in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan, and is primarily used for association football. It is the home field of the association football club Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo, and was also h ...
, which also hosts
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
games for
Consadole Sapporo is a Japanese professional football club based in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Sapporo, on the island of Hokkaido. They will play in the 2025 J2 League, the second tier league of Japanese football, after relegation from the J1 League at conclusion of th ...
, a J. League club. However, this stadium does not have such a field.) The roof of the Fukuoka Dome was designed to be opened similar to that of the now demolished Civic Arena in
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
, where the roof would open from the side. This design causes the roof to be rarely opened, due to costs of electricity to the mechanics to open the roof. The Building itself is recognized for its 12,000 ton
steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...
retractable roof with a 3 millimeter
titanium Titanium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resistant to corrosion in ...
plating.


Notable events


NPB

On May 18, 1994, Hiromi Makihara of the
Yomiuri Giants The are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. They h ...
threw a
perfect game Perfect game may refer to: Sports * Perfect game (baseball), a complete-game win by a pitcher allowing no baserunners * Perfect game (bowling), a 300 game, 12 consecutive strikes in the same game * Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, New Yo ...
against
Hiroshima Toyo Carp The is a professional baseball team based in Hiroshima, Japan. They compete in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. The team is primarily owned by the Matsuda family, led by , who is a descendant of Mazda founder Jujiro Matsuda ...
as the Giants won 6–0. Makihara's first Perfect-game at Fukuoka Dome is of special note as it being the only one thrown there, as well as the last one in the NPB (15th overall) until
Rōki Sasaki , nicknamed , is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Chiba Lotte Marines. He made his NPB debut in 2021 for ...
pitched a perfect game against the
Orix Buffaloes The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team formed as a result of the 2004 Nippon Professional Baseball realignment by the merger of the Orix BlueWave of Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes of Osaka, Osaka Prefecture ...
on April 10, 2022, at
ZOZO Marine Stadium (official name: ) is an outdoor baseball stadium in Chiba City, Chiba, Japan. It opened in 1990, with a capacity of about 30,000 spectators. It is primarily used for baseball games, and is the home field of the Chiba Lotte Marines. It is also u ...
.


1995 Summer Universiade The 1995 Summer Universiade, also known as the XVIII Summer Universiade, took place in Fukuoka, Japan. Emblem The symbol mark is a motif of "U", expressing passion and energy in the flickering flames of a burning torch. In the flames one sees bo ...

the Stadium had the function of being the main venue of the event, hosting the opening ceremonies, baseball tournament and the closing ceremonies.


Concerts

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...
performed at the stadium four times during his solo career. The first two times, Jackson performed two sold-out concerts during his ''
Dangerous World Tour The ''Dangerous'' World Tour was the second world concert tour by American singer Michael Jackson and was staged to promote his eighth studio album '' Dangerous.'' The tour was sponsored by Pepsi-Cola. All profits were donated to various chari ...
'', on September 10 & 11, 1993, for a total audience of 70,000 fans (35,000 per show). The second and last two times were in 1996, during his subsequent tour, ''
HIStory World Tour The ''HIS''tory World Tour was the third and final worldwide solo concert tour by American singer and songwriter Michael Jackson, covering Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa and North America. The tour included a total of 82 concerts spanning the gl ...
'', on December 26 and 28, also on two sold-out concerts for 80,000 people (40,000 fans per show).
Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, film producer, model, and philanthropist. Commonly referred to as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the Voice", she is List of awards and no ...
performed at the stadium on September 22, 1993, during
The Bodyguard World Tour The Bodyguard World Tour is the fifth concert tour by American recording artist, Whitney Houston. The tour was in support of her multi-platinum soundtrack album, '' The Bodyguard'', and also of the movie of the same name. Following the success ...
.
Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...
performed three times at the stadium. The shows happened on 7, 8, and 9 December 1993 during The Girlie Show World Tour. The stadium also hosted
Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...
's final public concerts on 19 and 20 December 1994. The
Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...
played two concerts at the dome during their
Voodoo Lounge Tour The Voodoo Lounge Tour was a worldwide concert tour by the Rolling Stones to promote their 1994 album '' Voodoo Lounge''. This was their first tour without bassist Bill Wyman, and their first with touring bassist Darryl Jones, as an additional ...
on 22 and 23 March 1995.
Bon Jovi Bon Jovi is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Sayreville, New Jersey in 1983. The band consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarists John Shanks and Phil X, percussionist Everett Bradley ...
played a concert at the dome on May 13, 1995, during their
These Days Tour These Days Tour was Bon Jovi's concert tour during 1995-96. Van Halen opened as a special guest for Bon Jovi on twenty of the European stadium dates during the second leg promoting their album ''Balance''. The last of the three Wembley Stadium gi ...
. On September 18 and 19, 2000, the stadium hosted
L'Arc-en-Ciel , stylized as L'Arc〜en〜Ciel and abbreviated 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 Ken and drummer Sakura were ...
as part of their "TOUR 2000 REAL".
Mariko Shinoda is a Japanese singer, actress, fashion model, and former member of the Japanese idol group AKB48, in which she was the captain of Team A. Career In October 2005, she auditioned for AKB48's first generation roster but failed the audition. Shor ...
held her graduation concert at the stadium on July 21, 2013, as part of the AKB48 5 Big Dome Concert Tour, "AKB48 2013 Manatsu no Dome Tour ~Mada mada, Yaranakya Ikenai koto ga aru~ (AKB48・2013真夏のドームツアー ~まだまだ、やらなきゃいけないことがある~)" that summer.
Super Junior Super Junior (; stylized in all caps), also known as SJ or SuJu, is a South Korean boy band. The group is composed of Leeteuk, Heechul, Yesung, Shindong, Sungmin, Eunhyuk, Siwon, Donghae, Ryeowook, and Kyuhyun. Han Geng, Kibum, and ...
performed their
Super Show 6 Super Show 6 is the fourth Asia-wide concert tour and sixth tour overall by South Korean boy band Super Junior, in support of their seventh studio album, '' Mamacita''. The world tour commenced with three shows in Seoul from September 19 to 21, 2 ...
at the stadium on 20 December 2014 as part of their forth Asia tour, with a sold-out crowd of 47,874 people.
BTS BTS (), also known as the Bangtan Boys, is a South Korean boy band formed in 2010. The band consists of Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook, who co-write or co-produce much of their material. Originally a hip hop group, they ...
held two concerts at the stadium on 16 and 17 February 2019 during their
Love Yourself World Tour BTS World Tour: Love Yourself, commonly known as the Love Yourself World Tour, was the third worldwide concert tour headlined by South Korean band BTS to promote their ''Love Yourself'' album series, including their '' Love Yourself: Her'' EP, '' ...
, with 72,801 sold-out tickets.
Blackpink Blackpink (, stylized in all caps or as BLɅϽKPIИK) is a South Korean girl group formed by YG Entertainment. The group is composed of four members: Jisoo, Jennie (singer), Jennie, Rosé (singer), Rosé, and Lisa (rapper), Lisa. Regarded by ...
had a sold-out concert in front of 38,864 audiences at the stadium on 22 February 2020 as part of their
In Your Area World Tour The In Your Area World Tour (also known as Blackpink World Tour n Your Area was the first worldwide concert tour and the second overall by South Korean girl group Blackpink. The tour began on November 10, 2018, in Seoul, South Korea, and end ...
.
Stray Kids Stray Kids (often abbreviated to SKZ; ) is a South Korean boy band formed by JYP Entertainment. The band consists of eight members: Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han (musician), Han, Felix (rapper), Felix, Seungmin, and I.N. For un ...
performed two concerts at the stadium on 16 and 17 August 2023 as part of their 5-Star Dome Tour, with 75,000 sold-out crowds.
TVXQ TVXQ (stylized as TVXQ!; , ), known as Tohoshinki in Japan, is a South Korean pop duo formed by SM Entertainment, composed of U-Know Yunho and Max Changmin. Originally a five-member boy band which also consisted of members Kim Jae-joong, Hero ...
(their Japanese name is
Tohoshinki TVXQ (stylized as TVXQ!; , ), known as Tohoshinki in Japan, is a South Korean pop duo formed by SM Entertainment, composed of U-Know Yunho and Max Changmin. Originally a five-member boy band which also consisted of members Hero Jaejoong, Mick ...
) had solo concerts in Fukuoka PayPay Dome for 9 days.
Perfume Perfume (, ) is a mixture of fragrance, fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), Fixative (perfumery), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agre ...
performed a show at the stadium for their First Nationwide Major Dome tour, 'P Cubed'.
Twice Twice (; Japanese language, Japanese: トゥワイス, Hepburn romanization, Hepburn: ''Tuwaisu''; commonly stylized in all caps) is a South Korean girl group formed by JYP Entertainment. The group is composed of nine members: Nayeon, Jeongyeon ...
performed two concerts on December 16–17, 2023 as part of their Ready to be tour part 3, with 76,543 sold out crowds.


Professional wrestling

From 1993 until 1995 and then again in 2000 and 2001,
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Puroresu, Japanese professional-wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, and based in Nakano, Tokyo. It is currently majority owned by card-game company Bushiroad, with TV As ...
hosted a yearly show titled Wrestling Dontaku in the month of May at the Fukuoka Dome. No such show was held from 2001 until its return in 2009, but they have been held yearly since in the
Fukuoka Kokusai Center in Hakata-ku, Fukuoka, Japan is a collection of three separate buildings operated by the Fukuoka Convention Center Foundation. Fukuoka Kokusai Center The Fukuoka Kokusai Center opened in . A Sumo Tournament is held here every November. Many ...
. Wrestling Dontaku 2022 was hosted in the Fukuoka Dome once more as a part of celebrating the 50th anniversary of NJPW, though the show has since returned to the Fukuoka Kokusai Center. In 2001,
DDT Pro-Wrestling is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Shinjuku, Tokyo. Its name is an initialism of Dramatic Dream Team, which was the promotion's original name from 1997 to 2004. Founded in March 1997 by Shintaro Muto, the p ...
(then known as Dramatic Dream Team) hosted a 2-day
tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establis ...
tournament in the venue. The tournament was won by
Sanshiro Takagi , better known by his ring name , is a Japanese professional wrestler and promoter who works for the Japanese wrestling promotion CyberFight, where he serves as executive vice president. He is one of the founding members and current chairman of ...
and
Tomohiko Hashimoto is a Japanese professional wrestler and former judoka and mixed martial artist, best known for his time with Dramatic Dream Team (DDT), where he competed as a mainstay from 2000 to 2006. After working as a freelancer on the Japanese independent ...
.


References


External links


Stadium page on Softbank Hawks official website
(in Japanese) {{Authority control Retractable-roof stadiums in Japan Nippon Professional Baseball venues Sports venues completed in 1993 Sports venues in Fukuoka 1993 establishments in Japan Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks