Tokyo Dome

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Tokyo Dome is a large events and sports stadium, seating more than 40,000 spectators, and is the home of the popular Yomiuri Giants baseball team, which plays as many as 60 games per year here. This is one of the world’s largest roofed baseball stadiums, and a large percentage of Japanese league teams play indoors. International teams play at the Tokyo Dome as well, and the Dome itself it set in a vast entertainment complex called Tokyo Dome City. Here, visitors can enjoy many things to do from an amusement park to concerts.

In Japan, teams are often named for their corporate sponsors, and the Yomiuri Giants are named for the Yomiuri newspaper and television group that sponsors them. This is the oldest team in Japan and the uniforms are patterned after those of the baseball Giants from the United States, once located in New York City and now based in San Francisco. The Yomiuri Giants games are not the only sports events played here. Football teams from the United States have played here, and the Tokyo Dome has also hosted basketball games, wrestling and boxing matches, martial arts competitions, and even monster truck rallies. Major league teams from the United States have played regular season games here. The Tokyo Dome City stadium is also a major music concert venue. Tokyo Dome City includes a full-service onsen (hot springs) spa and fitness center. As with many Japanese baths and spas, you may not be allowed in if you have many noticeable tattoos. This ban is dying out in many public baths, and was originally instituted to keep out notorious Yakuza gang members, who were heavily tattooed. There are also several dining spots, a modern shopping center, and the Tokyo Dome City Amusement Park with a number of revolutionary rides. The Big O is the first Ferris wheel in the world without a central axis. It looks like a giant donut floating above. Thunder Dolphin is a thrilling roller coaster (a completely separate ride) that threads its way right through the donut hole. There’s a water slide that drops over a waterfall, a merry-go-round that travels over water, a musical fountain, and a stage for concerts and other events.