PayPay Dome

The Fukuoka PayPay Dome (福岡ペイペイドーム, Fukuoka Peipeidōmu) is a baseball field, located in Chūō-ku, Fukuoka, Japan. Built in 1993, the stadium was originally named Fukuoka Dome (福岡ドーム, Fukuoka Dōmu) and has the capacity of 38,585 seats.[2][3] With a diameter of 216 meters, the Fukuoka PayPay Dome is the world's largest geodesic dome.[4] This is Japan's first stadium built with a retractable roof. In 2005, Yahoo! JAPAN, one of SoftBank's subsidiaries, acquired the stadium's naming rights, and thus renamed it Fukuoka Yahoo! Japan Dome (福岡Yahoo! JAPANドーム, Fukuoka Yafū Japan Dōmu) or abbreviated as Yahoo Dome (ヤフードーム, Yafū Dōmu),[5] In January 2013, it was renamed to Fukuoka Yafuoku! Dome (福岡 ヤフオク! ドーム, Fukuoka Yafuoku Dōmu).[6] Yafuoku means Yahoo! Auctions in Japan. On October 30, 2019, it was announced that the stadium was going to be named Fukuoka PayPay Dome, in reference to the payment system owned by Softbank (50%) and Yahoo Japan (25%), from February 29, 2020.[7][8]

Fukuoka PayPay Dome

Fukuoka Dome, PayPay Dome
Former names	Fukuoka Dome (1993–2005) Fukuoka Yahoo! JAPAN Dome (2005–13) Fukuoka Yafuoku! Dome (2013–2019)
Location	2-2-2 Jigyōhama, Chūō-ku, Fukuoka, Japan
Coordinates	33°35′43″N 130°21′44″E
Public transit	Fukuoka City Subway: Kuko Line at Tojinmachi
Owner	Hawks Town Co.
Operator	Hawks Town Co.
Capacity	40,178 (baseball])[1] 47,500 (concert)
Field size	Left Field – 100 metres (328 ft) Left-Center – 118 metres (387 ft) Center Field – 122 metres (400 ft) Right-Center – 118 metres (387 ft) Right Field – 100 metres (328 ft) Outfield Fence Height: 5.84m (19.2ft)
Surface	FieldTurf 2009–present Astroturf 1993 to 2008
Construction
Broke ground	April 1, 1991
Built	Early 1993
Opened	April 2, 1993
Construction cost	¥76 billions
Architect	Takenaka Corporation and Maeda Corporation
General contractor	Takenaka Corporation and Maeda Corporation
Tenants
Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (1993–present)

History

A Hawks game in 2008

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.[5] It is located near Momochi Beach, about 15 minutes walk from Tojinmachi subway station.

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).[2]

The Fukuoka Dome has hosted one game in each Major League Baseball Japan All-Star Series since its creation, including the final game of the 2006 series, where Japan was swept for the first time in the history of the event.[9]

In the TV series Extreme Engineering, Danny Forster makes a reference to the Fukuoka Dome, saying it was said to have a "floating" field. (An indoor baseball stadium in Japan which actually has a floating field is Sapporo Dome, which also hosts football games for Consadole Sapporo, a J. League club. However, this stadium does not have such a field.) In 2009, the older AstroTurf field was replaced with the now more common FieldTurf brand surface to reduce injuries; the Hawks players had seen far more injuries than any other team in Japan.

Concerts

Michael Jackson performed at the stadium four times at 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.

Madonna performed three times at the stadium. The shows happened on 7, 8, and 9 December 1993 during The Girlie Show World Tour.

The stadium also hosted Frank Sinatra's final public concerts on 19 and 20 December 1994.

The Rolling Stones played two concerts at the dome during their Voodoo Lounge Tour on 22 and 23 March 1995.

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 L'Arc~en~Ciel as part of their "TOUR 2000 REAL"

Super Junior performed his Super Show 6 at the stadium on 20 December 2014 as part of their sixth world tour, with a sold-out crowd of 47,874 people.

BLACKPINK had a sold-out concert at the stadium on 22 February 2020 as part of their In Your Area Tour.

Perfume (Japanese band) performed a show at the stadium for their First Nationwide Major Dome tour, 'P Cubed'.

References

1. https://www.daily.co.jp/baseball/2019/01/31/0012027053.shtml
2. "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.
3. "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.
4. Glancey, Jonathan (October 21, 2014). "The story of Buckminster Fuller's radical geodesic dome". BBC. Retrieved October 5, 2018.
5. "Hawkstown -Hawks Town a lively and festive place 365days a year". www.hawkstown.com. Retrieved July 20, 2016.
6. "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.
7. "Hawks' stadium to be renamed PayPay Dome next season". The Japan Times Online. 30 October 2019. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
8. "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.
9. MLB completes sweep with walk-off

External links

• Stadium page on Softbank Hawks official website (in Japanese)

Preceded by Heiwadai Stadium	Home of the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks 1993 – present	Succeeded by current
Preceded by Pilot Field  USA	Universiade 1995	Succeeded by Stadio Angelo Massimino  Italy