Tokyo Dome
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| Location | 3, Koraku 1-chome, Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan |
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| Coordinates | 35°42′20.37″N 139°45′6.89″E / 35.7056583°N 139.7519139°ECoordinates: 35°42′20.37″N 139°45′6.89″E / 35.7056583°N 139.7519139°E |
| Opened | March 17, 1988 |
| Owner | Tokyo Dome Corporation |
| Capacity | Officially 55,000 seats, real capacity 42,000 seats |
| Field dimensions | Facility Capacity Area[1]
Site: 112,456 sq m (1.21 million sq ft) |
| Tenants | |
| Yomiuri Giants (NPB (Central League)) (1988–present) Nippon Ham Fighters (NPB (Pacific League)) (1988–2004) |
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Tokyo Dome (東京ドーム Tōkyō Dōmu, TYO: 9681) is a 55,000-seat [1] stadium (actual capacity: 42,000 seats) located in Bunkyo Ward of Tokyo, Japan. It is the home field of the Yomiuri Giants baseball team, and has also hosted basketball, American football and association football games, as well as puroresu (pro-wrestling) matches, Mixed Martial Arts events, K-1 Kickboxing events, monster truck races, and music concerts. It is also the location of the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame which chronicles the history of baseball in Japan. Its dome-shaped roof is an air-supported structure, a flexible membrane held up by slightly pressurizing the inside of the stadium.
Tokyo Dome's original nickname was "The Big Egg", with some calling it the "Tokyo Egg Dome". However, the nickname gradually fell from use as the years went on, and is nowadays rarely heard. It opened for business on March 17, 1988 and was built close to the site of its predecessor, Kōrakuen Stadium. Like Kōrakuen, the Dome hosts the Toei Superheroes live shows of the year.
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[edit] Tokyo Dome City
Tokyo Dome is part of a greater entertainment complex known as Tokyo Dome City. Tokyo Dome City includes an amusement park and Tokyo Dome City Attractions (formerly Kōrakuen Grounds). This amusement park occupies the former Korakuen Stadium site and includes a roller coaster named Thunder Dolphin and a hubless Ferris wheel. The grounds also have an onsen called Spa LaQua, various shops, restaurants, video game centers, the largest JRA WINS horse race betting complex in Tokyo, and Oft Korakuen, which caters to rural horse races.
[edit] Notable performances
Tokyo Dome is the largest concert hall in Japan. Many popular artists have performed at Tokyo Dome, including Gackt, Namie Amuro, Mariah Carey, Dead or Alive, Ayumi Hamasaki, Yellow Magic Orchestra, Koda Kumi, Kylie Minogue, SMAP, Glay, Bon Jovi, Arashi, B'z, Tohoshinki, Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, Céline Dion, David Bowie, Duran Duran, Paul McCartney, Mr. Children, Kiss, Diana Ross, Earth, Wind, and Fire, Guns N' Roses, Van Halen, Janet Jackson, KinKi Kids, KAT-TUN, L'Arc-en-Ciel, Luna Sea, Michael Jackson, NEWS, Whitney Houston, t.A.T.u., Madonna, The Police, Prince, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Billy Joel, X Japan, U2 on the Lovetown Tour in 1990, Aerosmith in 1998 on the Nine Lives Tour, and The Rolling Stones, who played for ten days during the Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tour in 1990. On December 31, 1991, Europe, Tesla, Thunder and Metallica performed at the "Final Countdown '91". [2]Also, the famous band X Japan held three-day reunion concerts at Tokyo Dome in March 2008.
On July 10 & 11 2009, Simon and Garfunkle performed two sold-out concerts, playing more than twenty five songs each night.
In August 2008, KAT-TUN broke the record for the longest consecutive days of concerts, when they performed at the stadium for four days in a row. Less than a year later, they broke their own record with concerts in eight days in a row from May 15, 2009, as they sold all tickets immediately.
During 1998, Sir Elton John and Billy Joel played their Face to Face show to a sell out crowd on two consecutive nights.
The latest artists who performed at Tokyo Dome are Tohoshinki or TVXQ, the acappella band from Korea. Tohoshinki debuted in Japan in 2005 and completed the Japan tour at Tokyo Dome on 4 and 5 July, 2009. They are the first Korean group to perform at Tokyo Dome.
Tokyo Dome has hosted the two-day X-Trail Jam snowboarding competition seven times since February 2001.
The Chicago Cubs and the New York Mets played a pair of games here to open the 2000 season, the first time American Major League Baseball teams have played regular season games in Asia. The New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays played two games there in March of 2004 to open that season. The Boston Red Sox and the Oakland Athletics opened the 2008 MLB season in Japan as well. These teams also competed against Japanese teams.[3] The Boston Red Sox beat the Oakland Athletics 6–5 in extra innings in the first game.[4]
In August 2005, the Atlanta Falcons beat the Indianapolis Colts 27–20 in the first NFL preseason game of the year in the stadium.
The Tokyo Dome has hosted several championship prize fights, including the heavyweight boxing championship fight on February 10, 1990, where Mike Tyson lost the championship to 42–1 shot James "Buster" Douglas by a tenth-round knockout.
In 1997, mixed martial arts organization PRIDE Fighting Championships held its first event in the dome and attracted 47,000 fans.
Before the team moved to Hokkaido in 2004, the Nippon Ham Fighters also used Tokyo Dome as home ground, and continued to use the dome for several regular season games every season, including inter-league games.
New Japan Pro Wrestling holds an annual Tokyo Dome event on January 4, attracting record crowds. It was the most anticipated puroresu event of the year.
Under the ground rule set up by the dome, any ball that which or is trapped by the hanging items in outfield area's roof will be ruled as home runs. Hitting any other part of the roof will be considered as in-play.
[edit] In popular culture
In their song, "The Sounder", the virtual band Gorillaz makes a reference to the Tokyo Dome, saying: "Gorillaz rock the dome just like the one in Tokyo.
[edit] Gallery
 Baseball at the Tokyo Dome |
 The Tokyo Dome and the amusement park Tokyo Dome City Attractions. (2003 photo). |
 Tokyo Dome and its attached amusement park occupies the grounds of the former Kōrakuen stadium and baseball park. The vegetation on the left is Koishikawa Korakuen Garden, a historic site. (1974 photo). |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b "TOKYO DOME CITY WEB SITE Architectural Features". http://www.tokyo-dome.co.jp/e/dome/architectural.htm. Retrieved on 2008-03-26.
- ^ "Tokyo Dome concerts, 1991-1993". http://www.tokyo-dome.co.jp/dome/concerts/1991_1993.htm. Retrieved on 2008-03-26.
- ^ "Red Sox, A's Japan-bound in 2008". http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071114&content_id=2300048&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb. Retrieved on 2008-03-26.
- ^ "Moss, Manny fuel comeback". http://mlb.mlb.com/news/gameday_recap.jsp?ymd=20080325&content_id=2456356&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=bos. Retrieved on 2008-03-26.
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tokyo Dome |
| Preceded by Korakuen Stadium |
Home of the Yomiuri Giants 1988 – present |
Succeeded by current |
| Preceded by Korakuen Stadium |
Home of the Nippon Ham Fighters 1988 – 2003 |
Succeeded by Sapporo Dome |
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