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National Stadium's 50-Year Heritage to Go Nationwide as Seats and Other Equipment Distributed Free of Charge

http://www.asahi.com/articles/ASG5Q4FX5G5QUTQP01J.html

translated by Brett Larner

Set to be rebuilt for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, the National Stadium's seats and other equipment are to find new life in sports facilities all across the country.  In response to requests from more than ten municipalities nationwide, the Japan Sports Promotion Center (JSC), managers and operators of the National Stadium, will donate the facility's equipment free of charge.  The list of recipients was announced on May 28.

The equipment to be distributed includes the National Stadium's signature orange plastic chairs, crowd control fencing, and lounge furniture.  The JSC is also looking at putting the soccer pitch's turf and the stadium's extra seats up for sale.  As the site of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and the place where the drama of countless famous soccer and rugby matches unfolded, a JSC official commented, "We want to make sure the National Stadium's history survives in the future.  Our hope is to see as much as possible of what is reusable put to an effective use."

The city of Kitakami, Iwate has ordered 6500 seats from the National Stadium.  With its Kitakami Sports Park Field set to host the 2016 National Sports Festival, the city government plans to replace the aging facility's seating with the sturdy gear from the National Stadium.  Buying new seats would cost 150,000,000 yen (~$1,470,000 USD), but reusing the National Stadium's seats will cost Kitakami only 60,000,000 yen (~$590,000 USD).

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