Tokyo Dome, Japan

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.

You will even find hotels here. The 43-story Tokyo Dome Hotel is located right in the complex, and there are numerous other hotels quite close by.

Within Tokyo Dome City you will find Koishikawa Korakuen Gardens, one of the oldest and loveliest gardens in the city. It was designed in traditional Japanese landscape garden style during the Tokugawa Shogunate of the early Edo Period and is part of the history of the city. While many gardens are popular during the spring cherry blossoms viewing time, Koishikawa Korakuen is particularly beautiful in its November autumn foliage and during the February plum festival. One very gorgeous weeping cherry tree can be seen in full blossom at the garden entrance during the month of April.

The Tokyo Dome is located in the Bunkyo District, just north of Akihabara. This area is the site of several important shrines and temples, most notably the Gokokuji and Denzuin Temples and the Nezu Shrine. Other important attractions in the vicinity include beautiful Ueno Park with its prestigious museums.