The Japan National Stadium, officially the , alternatively , and a.k.a. formerly is a

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

used mostly for

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

in Kasumigaoka, Shinjuku,

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, 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 (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athletics events at the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

and

2020 Summer Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the Inte ...

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 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 state. The prime minister also serves as the commander-in-chief of the Japan Self Defence For ...

Shinzo Abe Shinzo Abe (21 September 1954 – 8 July 2022) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), LDP) from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020. ...

, 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 matc ...

, as originally intended. A new design created by architect

Kengo Kuma is a Japanese architect and emeritus 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 prolif ...

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 ( ''Zahā Ḥadīd''; 31 October 1950 – 31 March 2016) was an Iraqi-born British architect, artist, and designer. She is recognised as a key figure in the architecture of the late-20th and early-21st centuries. Born ...

. 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), competitio ...

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

, some

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, 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 o ...

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 was a Japanese architect. 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. Maki died on 6 June 2024, at the age of 95. Early life Maki was born ...

, 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 without extreme difficulty, 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, ...

; 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-ku, Kyoto#Sights, Fushimi-momoyama, south ...

Arata Isozaki Arata Isozaki (磯崎新, ''Isozaki Arata''; 23 July 1931 – 28 December 2022) was a Japanese architect, urban designer, and theorist from Ōita, Ōita, Ōita. He was awarded the Royal Gold Medal in 1986 and the Pritzker Architecture Prize i ...

, 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 London Stadium (formerly and also known as the Olympic Stadium and the Stadium at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park) is a multi-purpose outdoor stadium at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in the Stratford, London, Stratford district of London. It is loc ...

and more than five times the cost of the

Beijing Olympic Stadium The National Stadium (), the Bird's Nest (), is a stadium at Olympic Green in Chaoyang, Beijing, China. The National Stadium, covering an area of 204,000 square meters with an 80,000 person capacity (91,000 with temporary seating), broke g ...

. 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 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 state. The prime minister also serves as the commander-in-chief of the Japan Self-Defense Force ...

Shinzō Abe Shinzo Abe (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 2020. He was the longest-serving pri ...

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 Cost reduction is the process used by organisations aiming to reduce their costs and increase their profits, or to accommodate reduced income. Depending on a company’s services or products, the strategies can vary. Every decision in the produ ...

, Tokyo's New National Stadium was built without an

air conditioner Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C (US) or air con (UK), is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior temperature, and in some cases, also controlling the humidity of internal air. Air c ...

, 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 was originally planned to 60,102 taking into account press and executive seating areas,along the broadcasting equipaments. This capacity would be lessened for the Paralympics to 57,750 to add more handicap accessible seating. However, all events were held

behind closed doors Behind Closed Doors may refer to: Film, television and radio Film * ''Behind Closed Doors'' (1929 film), an early talkie starring Virginia Valli * Behind Closed Doors (1961 film), ''Behind Closed Doors'' (1961 film), an Italian comedy film by Dino ...

due the COVID-19 pandemics. 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. In October 2021, the Government of Japan decided to change their plans and decide to keep the athletics track, scrapping 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 was bidding for hosting the

2025 World Athletics Championships The 2025 World Athletics Championships (Japanese language, Japanese: 2025年世界陸上競技選手権大会) will be the twentieth edition of the World Athletics Championships, and are scheduled to be held from 13 to 21 September 2025 in Tokyo, ...

. The 2025 Athletics Championship will be the first major spectator event for athletics at the stadium. As part of celebration of the 30th anniversary of J. League, the stadium announced as venue for two games in May 2023. Home team

FC Tokyo , commonly known as , is a Japanese professional football club based in Chōfu, Tokyo. The club plays in the J1 League, the top tier of football in the country. From 2025, FC Tokyo is one of the few J.League clubs to be simply called ''Footb ...

won 2–1 against the 10-men

Kawasaki Frontale is a Japanese professional football club based in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, south of Tokyo. The club currently compete in the J1 League, which is the top tier of football in the country. Their home stadium is Kawasaki Todoroki Stadium i ...

on 12 May.

Kashima Antlers The are a professional association football, football club based in Kashima, Ibaraki, Japan. They currently play in the J1 League, the top tier of Japanese professional football leagues. The club has financial backing from Mercari, a Japanese ...

faced

Nagoya Grampus ; formerly known as is a Japanese association football club that plays in the J1 League, and have for all but one season since the inauguration of the league, following promotion from the J2 League in 2017. Based in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture an ...

two days later.

Concerts

International football matches

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 standards setting organization (SSO) develops standards for good forest mana ...

has been sourced from all 47

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

following a tradition started by the

. The design of the

eaves The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural sty ...

was inspired by the

Hōryū-ji is a Buddhist temple that was once one of the powerful Nanto Shichi Daiji, Seven Great Temples, located in Ikaruga, Nara, Ikaruga, Nara Prefecture, Japan. Built shortly after Buddhism was introduced to Japan, it is also one of the oldest Buddh ...

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 panel A solar panel is a device that converts sunlight into electricity by using photovoltaic (PV) cells. PV cells are made of materials that produce excited electrons when exposed to light. These electrons flow through a circuit and produce direct ...

s 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 File:Kokuritsu Kasumigaoka Rikujo Kyogijo-18b.jpg, August 2018 File:Kokuritsu Kasumigaoka Rikujo Kyogijo-20d1.jpg, October 2018 File:Kokuritsu Kasumigaoka Rikujo Kyogijo-23a.jpg, January 2019 File:Kokuritsu Kasumigaoka Rikujo Kyogijo-25c.jpg, March 2019 File:Kokuritsu Kasumigaoka Rikujo Kyogijo-27g.jpg, May 2019 File:Kokuritsu Kasumigaoka Rikujo Kyogijo 190922c.jpg, September 2019 File:Kokuritsu Kasumigaoka Rikujo Kyogijo 191221b.jpg, December 2019 File:Kokuritsu Kasumigaoka Rikujo Kyogijo 191221d.jpg, December 2019 File:Kokuritsu Kasumigaoka Rikujo Kyogijo 191221c.jpg, December 2019 File:Kokuritsu Kasumigaoka Rikujo Kyogijo 191221g.jpg, December 2019 File:New national stadium tokyo 1.jpg, Aerial view (2020)

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 Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Olympic athletics venues Rugby union stadiums in Japan Rugby union in Tokyo Sports venues completed in 2019 Sports venues in Tokyo Venues of the 2020 Summer Olympics 2019 establishments in Japan Kengo Kuma buildings