Tokyo Dome
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Tokyo Dome | |
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| Location | 3, Koraku 1-chome, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan |
| Coordinates | |
| Opened | March 17, 1988 |
| Owner | Tokyo Dome Corporation |
| Tenants | Yomiuri Giants (NPB (Central League)) (1988–present) |
| Capacity | Officially "55,000" but actually 42,000 + standing room of about 3,000 |
| Field dimensions | Facility Capacity Area[1]
Site: 112,456 sq m (1.21 million sq ft) |
Tokyo Dome (東京ドーム Tōkyō Dōmu, TYO: 9681) is a 55,000-seat [1] stadium located in Bunkyo Ward of Tokyo, Japan. It is the home field of the Yomiuri Giants baseball team, and has also hosted basketball and American 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, this has fallen from use and is 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 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, varuious 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
The Tokyo Dome is the largest concert facility in Japan. A number of famous concerts have been held here, including tour stops by big names like Avril Lavigne, Backstreet Boys, Beyoncé, Britney Spears, Céline Dion, U2, David Bowie, Ayumi Hamasaki, The Rolling Stones, Duran Duran, ,Paul McCartney, Kiss, Diana Ross, Guns N' Roses, The Courage, Van Halen, Bon Jovi, Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson, t.A.T.u., Madonna, Mariah Carey, The Police, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Billy Joel, and Aerosmith, who broke attendance records in 1998 on their Nine Lives Tour. On December 31, 1991, Europe, Tesla, Thunder, and Metallica (headliner) performed in the music event called "Final Countdown '91" here. [2]
Also, the famous band X Japan held their three-day long reunion concerts there in the end of March 2008.
Since February 2001, Tokyo Dome has hosted the two-day X-Trail Jam snowboarding competition seven times.
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 opended 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 prizefights, 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 itself moving to Hokkaido in 2004, the Nippon Ham Fighters also used Tokyo Dome as their home ground, and they would continue to use the dome for several regular season games a season, including interleague games.
New Japan Pro Wrestling holds an annual Tokyo Dome event on January 4, attracting record crowds. It is considered the most anticipated puroresu event of the year.
Under the ground rule set up by the dome, any ball that hits 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] References
- ^ a b TOKYO DOME CITY WEB SITE Architectural Features. Retrieved on 2008-03-26.
- ^ Tokyo Dome concerts, 1991-1993. Retrieved on 2008-03-26.
- ^ Red Sox, A's Japan-bound in 2008. Retrieved on 2008-03-26.
- ^ Moss, Manny fuel comeback. Retrieved on 2008-03-26.
[edit] External links
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