Fukuoka PayPay Dome
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (February 2011) |
Fukuoka Dome PayPay Dome | |
¥76 billion | |
| Architect | Takenaka Corporation and Maeda Corporation |
|---|---|
| General contractor | Takenaka Corporation and Maeda Corporation |
| Tenants | |
| Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (1993–present) | |
The Fukuoka PayPay Dome (福岡ペイペイドーム, Fukuoka Peipeidōmu), officially the Fukuoka Dome (福岡ドーム, Fukuoka Dōmu) is a baseball field located in Chūō-ku, Fukuoka, Japan. Home to the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, the 40,000 seat stadium was built in 1993 and was originally named Fukuoka Dome (福岡ドーム, Fukuoka Dōmu).[1][2] It is Japan's first stadium built with a retractable roof, and was the only baseball stadium in Japan with one until the opening of Es Con Field Hokkaido in 2023.
History
Fukuoka Dome is the home stadium of Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks and, together with Hilton Fukuoka Sea Hawk Hotel, is part of the Hawks Town entertainment complex.[3] It is located near Momochi Beach, and a 15 minute walk from Tōjinmachi Station, a part of the Fukuoka City Subway system.
In 2003 Colony Capital purchased the stadium with accompanying hotels from Daiei, in the process Colony assumed ¥60 billion in debts with the properties along with a ¥15 billion capital infusion for renovations.[4]
After the sale of the stadium's primary tenant, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, from supermarket chain
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).[6]
On April 12, 2007, the Fukuoka Dome and Hawks Town complex was sold to an affiliate of the
In 2009, the older, short-pile AstroTurf field was replaced with the more modern grass-like FieldTurf 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.[5] The adjacent shopping mall was sold to Mitsubishi Estate on January 22, 2015. [8]
In January 2013, it was renamed to Fukuoka Yafuoku! Dome (福岡ヤフオク! ドーム, Fukuoka Yafuoku Dōmu).[9] Yafuoku is the abbreviation for Yahoo! Auctions in Japan.
On October 30, 2019, it was announced that the stadium was going to be renamed again to Fukuoka PayPay Dome, in reference to the payment system PayPay owned by SoftBank (50%) and Yahoo Japan (25%), on February 29, 2020.[10][11]
The Fukuoka Dome has hosted one game in each
In the TV series
The roof of the Fukuoka Dome was designed to be opened similar to that of the now demolished Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, 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 retractable roof with a 3 millimeter titanium plating.[13]
Notable events
NPB
On May 18, 1994, Hiromi Makihara of the Yomiuri Giants threw a perfect game against Hiroshima Toyo Carp 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 pitched a perfect game against the Orix Buffaloes on April 10, 2022, at ZOZO Marine Stadium.
1995 Summer Universiade
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 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, 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, on December 26 and 28, also on two sold-out concerts for 80,000 people (40,000 fans per show).
Whitney Houston performed at the stadium on September 22, 1993, during The Bodyguard World Tour.
The stadium also hosted Frank Sinatra's final public concerts on 19 and 20 December 1994.
The
Bon Jovi played a concert at the dome on May 13, 1995, during their These Days Tour.
On September 18 and 19, 2000, the stadium hosted
Mariko Shinoda 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 performed their Super Show 6 at the stadium on 20 December 2014 as part of their forth Asia tour, with a sold-out crowd of 47,874 people.
BTS held two concerts at the stadium on 16 and 17 February 2019 during their Love Yourself World Tour, with 72,801 sold-out tickets.
Blackpink 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.
Perfume performed a show at the stadium for their First Nationwide Major Dome tour, 'P Cubed'.
Professional wrestling
In the 1990s, New Japan Pro-Wrestling did their wrestling dontaku shows in the month of May at the Fukuoka Dome until Wrestling Dontaku 2001. In 2022, as a part of celebrating the 50th anniversary of the NJPW, the organization returned to the Fukuoka Dome for Wrestling Dontaku 2022.[citation needed]
References
- ^ a b "2023年度 福岡PayPayドームの定員について". 公式サイト (in Japanese). Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. 2023-01-30. Retrieved 2023-09-07.
- ^ "2017年度 福岡 ヤフオク!ドームの定員に関しまして" (in Japanese). Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. March 2, 2017. Retrieved October 5, 2018.
- ^ a b "Hawkstown -Hawks Town a lively and festive place 365 days a year". www.hawkstown.com. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
- ^ Belson, Ken (December 3, 2003). "Foreign Investors Hit One Into a Japanese Ballpark". The New York Times. p. W1. Retrieved November 28, 2023.
- ^ a b "Acquisition of Fukuoka Yahoo! JAPAN Dome" (Press release). SoftBank Group. 2012-03-24. Retrieved 2022-08-20.
- ^ "福岡ソフトバンクホークス オフィシャルサイト". Archived from the original on July 13, 2016. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
- ^ https://www.gic.com.sg/newsroom/news/gic-real-estate-acquires-hawks-town-in-fukuoka-city-japan/
- ^ https://www.fukuoka-now.com/en/news/mitsubishi-estate-acquires-hawks-town-mall/
- ^ "ヤフオク! - 福岡 Yahoo! JAPANドーム名称変更のお知らせ" (in Japanese). Yahoo! Japan. Retrieved October 5, 2018.
- ^ "Hawks' stadium to be renamed PayPay Dome next season". The Japan Times Online. 30 October 2019. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
- ^ "2020年2月29日（土）「福岡PayPayドーム」誕生 - プレスリリース". PayPay株式会社 (Press release) (in Japanese). Retrieved 11 March 2020.
- MLB completes sweep with walk-off
- ^ "Fukuoka Dome – A Baseball Park with a Retractable Domed Roof Incorporating State-of-the-Art Technology". web-japan.org/. Retrieved November 28, 2023.
External links
- Stadium page on Softbank Hawks official website (in Japanese)
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