Tokyo Dome

Infobox Stadium
stadium_name = Tokyo Dome


location = 3, Koraku 1-chome, Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan
coordinates = coord|35|42|20.37|N|139|45|6.89|E|region:JP_type:landmark|display=inline,title
opened = March 17, 1988
owner = Tokyo Dome Corporation
tenants = Yomiuri Giants (NPB (Central League)) (1988–present)
Nippon Ham Fighters (NPB (Pacific League)) (1988–2004)
seating_capacity = Officially "55,000" but actually 42,000 + standing room of about 3,000
dimensions = Facility Capacity Areacite web |url=http://www.tokyo-dome.co.jp/e/dome/architectural.htm |title=TOKYO DOME CITY WEB SITE Architectural Features |accessdate=2008-03-26] Site: 112,456 sq m (1.21 million sq ft)
Building: 46,755 sq m (503,267 sq ft)
Field: 13,000 sq m (139,931 sq ft)
Right, Left: 100 m (328.1 ft)
Center: 122 m (400.3 ft)
Capacity: 1,240,000 cubic m (43.78 million cubic ft)

Tokyo Dome (東京ドーム "Tōkyō Dōmu", tyo|9681) is a 55,000-seat 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, the nickname had fallen 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 of the year.

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.

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 Kylie Minogue, Arashi, B'z, KAT-TUN, NewS, Avril Lavigne, Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, Céline Dion, U2, David Bowie, Ayumi Hamasaki, Duran Duran, ,Paul McCartney, Kiss, Diana Ross, Earth, Wind, and Fire, Guns N' Roses, The Courage, Van Halen, Bon Jovi, Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson, t.A.T.u., Madonna, Mariah Carey, The Police,Prince, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Billy Joel, X Japan, Vader, Aerosmith in 1998 on their Nine Lives Tour, and The Rolling Stones, who played for ten dates during their Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tour in 1990. On December 31, 1991, Europe, Tesla, Thunder, and Metallica performed in the music event called "Final Countdown '91" here. [cite web |url=http://www.tokyo-dome.co.jp/dome/concerts/1991_1993.htm |title=Tokyo Dome concerts, 1991-1993 |accessdate=2008-03-26] Also, the famous band X Japan held their three-day long reunion concerts there in the end of March 2008. In August 2008, KAT-TUN broke the record for consecutive concerts when they performed at the stadium 4 days in a row.

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 opened the 2008 MLB season in Japan as well. These teams also competed against Japanese teams. [cite web |url=http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071114&content_id=2300048&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb |title=Red Sox, A's Japan-bound in 2008 |accessdate=2008-03-26] The Boston Red Sox beat the Oakland Athletics 6–5 in extra innings in the first game. [cite web |url=http://mlb.mlb.com/news/gameday_recap.jsp?ymd=20080325&content_id=2456356&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=bos |title=Moss, Manny fuel comeback |accessdate=2008-03-26]

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.

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."

Gallery

ee also

* Thin-shell structure
* List of thin shell structures

References

External links

* [http://www.tokyo-dome.co.jp/ Tokyo Dome official website]
* [http://wgordon.web.wesleyan.edu/kamikaze/monuments/tokyodome/index.htm Tokyo Dome War Monument]