Stadiums in Japan: Nihondaira Stadium

Nihondaira Stadium is a very picturesque venue, and the view from the back stands is particularly impressive. The stadium sits on a hill overlooking the city of Shimizu, and the view across the bay to the towering slopes of Mt. Fuji is simply breathtaking.

Although the local team, Shimizu S-Pulse, plays some of its home matches at the much larger Shizuoka "Ecopa" Stadium (a World Cup venue), the beauty and atmosphere of Nihondaira convinced team officials to expand and refurbish it in 2004, in order to allow most of the team"s home contests to continue to be held in the cozy confines of this football-only facility. In years past, the 18,500-seat capacity of Nihondaira was something of a drawback, since it limited the size of the audience at top matches. To address this situation, the stadium was expanded in 2004 by adding an upper deck to the visitor's end zone and expanding the main and back stands. This increased rated capacity to 20,339. This number should be enough to handle most crowds, and the team's use of Shizuoka "Ecopa" Stadium will probably be limited to big matches against key opponents and traditional rivals, such as Jubilo Iwata, Kashima Antlers, Yokohama Marinos and Urawa Reds.

Nihondaira Sports Park Stadium

Location:Shimizu City, Shizuoka Prefecture		Capacity: 20,339
Home Team(s): Shimizu S-Pulse		Completed: June 1991

Stadium Access From JR Shimizu Station, on the Tokaido line, take bus No. 6, No 7 or No. 8 and get off at the stop named "Nihondaira Undo Koen Iriguchi". The bus ride takes about 20 minutes, and the fare is 300 yen. From the bus stop, it is about a six minute walk to the stadium. On match days, there are special shuttle buses from Shimizu Station which make fewer stops, and there is also a shuttle bus from Shizuoka Stadium (bus No. 13) which takes about 40 minutes (fare is 610 yen)

Click to enlarge

Ticket Prices 2F general admission: Adults Y2,800; Children Y1,300 1F general admission: Adults Y3,000; Children Y1,500 A Zone: Adults Y3,500; Children Y2,000 S Zone reserved seats: Y5,500

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Pictures of Nihondaira Stadium

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