Arena

Nippon Budokan

Nippon Budokan

CC BY-SA 3.0

Venue

Nippon Budokan

Type
Arena
Also known as
Nippon Budōkan, 日本武道館
Opened
October 3, 1964
Capacity
14,471
Location
Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan · map
Website
https://www.nipponbudokan.or.jp

The Nippon Budokan (Japanese: 日本武道館, Hepburn: Nippon Budōkan; lit. 'Japan Martial Arts Hall'), often shortened to simply the Budokan, is an indoor arena in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally built for the inaugural Olympic judo competition in the 1964 Summer Olympics. The Budokan was a popular venue for Japanese professional wrestling for a time, and it has hosted numerous other sporting events, such as the 1967 Women's Volleyball World Championship. Most recently, the arena hosted the judo and karate competitions at the 2020 Summer Olympics and judo at the 2020 Summer Paralympics. While its primary purpose is to host martial arts contests, the arena has gained additional fame as one of the world's most outstanding musical performance venues. A number of famous acts have played at the Budokan. The Beatles were the first rock group to play there, in a series of five concerts, each lasting 30 minutes, from June 30 to July 2, 1966. ABBA ended their last tour and held their final live performance there in March 1980. Numerous other notable acts have recorded live albums at the Budokan for the good acoustics and audience behavior.

Recorded Here

Recorded or filmed here, from this catalogue:

History

From the en.wikipedia article Nippon Budokan (CC BY-SA 4.0), revision 1372220489.

Prehistory

The area around the Nippon Budokan was originally where the Tsuchi-do Shrine (formerly Tayasu Myojin), the guardian deity of Kanto, was relocated when Dokan Ota built Edo Castle, and later, when Ieyasu Tokugawa entered the city, it became the residence of the Kanto magistrate Kiyonari Naito and others, and was therefore called Daikan-cho. Later, it became the residence of Tadanaga Tokugawa and Tsunashige Tokugawa, and from the mid-Edo period onwards, the Tayasu-Tokugawa family, one of the three branches of the Tokugawa clan, had their residence there, but after the Meiji Restoration it was demolished and became a barracks for the Imperial Guard Division.

History Leading up to the Construction and the Olympics

In June 1961, when judo was selected as an official sport for the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics, some judo-loving Diet members formed the Diet Members Judo Association. At the launch celebration held at Nippon Television's outdoor studio, House of Representatives member Matsutarō Shōriki, who became the association's chairman, stated, "I want to build a world-class martial arts hall in the center of Tokyo and promote the development and spread of this art." On June 30, the Diet Members' Association for the Construction of the Martial Arts Hall (Chairman: Matsutarō Shōriki; Vice-chairmen: Mikio Mizuta, Shigeyoshi Matsumae, Yonosuke Sato, and Munenori Akagi) was formed. This initiative received signatures from 525 cross-party lawmakers, including House of Representatives Speaker Ichirō Kiyose, House of Councillors Speaker Matsuno Kakuhei, Prime Minister Hayato Ikeda, Japan Socialist Party Chairman Jōtarō Kawakami, Democratic Socialist Party Chairman Suehiro Nishio, and Japanese Communist Party Chairman Sanzo Nosaka. On January 31, 1962, with the approval of the Minister of Education, the Nippon Budokan Foundation (Chairman: Matsutarō Shōriki; Vice-chairmen: Atsutaro Kimura, Shigeyoshi Matsumae; chairman of the Board: Munenori Akagi) was established. After much deliberation, the site for the building was finally decided upon in Kitanomaru, and the Nippon Budokan was completed on September 15, 1964. The opening ceremony was held on October 3, in the presence of Emperor Showa and Empress Kojun. On October 15, the Tokyo Olympic martial arts exhibition competitions (kendo, kyudo, and sumo) were held, and from 20 to October 23, the Olympic judo competitions. Since then, in line with its founding purpose, the Nippon Budokan has been used to promote and popularize various martial arts, hosting various martial arts tournaments, and also for various national events with a public mission.

Sources

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