Skip to main content

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).

Comments

Most-Read This Week

Ngetich Breaks CR, Murayama and Sasaki Make U.S. Debut at New York Mini 10k

WR holder Agnes Ngetich  soloed a fast one at the 54th edition of the Mastercard New York Mini 10k, leading inside the first mile and pulling away the rest of the race to run a 30:07 CR for the win, the fastest time ever on U.S. soil albeit on a slightly net downhill course. On a warm day that saw over 10,000 women finish  Tsigie Gebreselama  was on her own most of the way too, a distant 2nd in 30:53 and 17 seconds up on past champ Hellen Obiri . Further back, 2026 World University Cross Country bronze medalist Amisa Murayama  and 2025 Morinomiyako Ekiden 3rd leg CR breaker Nazuki Sasaki  from 2025 National University Women's Ekiden runner-up Tohoku Fukushi University  made their U.S. debuts. Murayama was targeting the fastest-ever Japanese time at the Mini, 32:37, but struggled on the hills just before 5 km and late in the race, fading to finish 23rd in 34:08. Sasaki, recovering from a stress reaction in her upper back a few months ago, ran a conservative ...

Federation Tells World Championships Marathoner Horibata To Go On Diet

http://hochi.yomiuri.co.jp/sports/etc/news/20110307-OHT1T00258.htm translated by Brett Larner Having made the 2011 World Championships marathon team by running a PB of 2:09:25 to come in 3rd overall and as the top Japanese finisher at the Mar. 6 Lake Biwa Mainichi Marathon, Hiroyuki Horibata (24, Team Asahi Kasei), talked to the media at Osaka Airport on Mar. 7. Following Sunday's race Rikuren director Keisuke Sawaki , 67, told Horibata, "Let's cut things down a bit until the World Championships," directing him to go on a diet. The 189 cm Horibata weighs 72 kg [~6'3", 160 lbs]. When he joined Team Asahi Kasei in 2005 at age 18 he weighed 65 kg, and this weight is still generally listed on his profile at races and in the media. "For some reason it never changes," he said with a grin. His coach Takeshi Soh , 58, commented, "If he was hungrier for glory his world would change completely," slapping the 'heavyweight division runner...

National Track and Field Championships Entry List Highlights

Entry lists are out for next week's National Track and Field Championships in Nagoya, the main selection event for Japan's teams for September's Nagoya Asian Games and Copenhagen World Road Running Championships. Top entries in each event with best time in 2025-26. Asterisks indicate 2025 national champions. Men Men's 100 m *Yoshihide Kiryu (Nihon Seimei) - 9.99 Sorato Shimizu (Seiryu H.S.) - 10.00 Yuhi Mori (Watanabe Pipe) - 10.00 Yuki Koike (Sumitomo Denko) - 10.06 Fukuto Komuro (Chuo Univ.) - 10.08 Ryota Yamagata (Seiko) - 10.08 Shuhei Tada (Sumitomo Denko) - 10.10 Ryota Suzuki (Suzuki) - 10.11 Naoki Inoue (Osaka Gas) - 10.12 Rikuto Higuchi (Suzuki) - 10.12 Men's 200 m Shota Iizuka (Mizuno) - 20.45 Aoto Suzuki (Sumitomo Denko) - 20.49 Kota Uematsu (Chuo Univ.) - 20.50 Yuji Michael Orisa (GK Line) - 20.51 Soshi Mizukubo (Miyazaki T&F) - 20.51 Mitsuhiro Numata (Legalis) - 20.58 Seisho Sasaki (Iwate Univ.) - 20.60 Sota Miwa (Koizumi) - 20.61 Naoki Uemoto (Lega...