Sapporo Dome

The Sapporo Dome (札幌ドーム, Sapporo Dōmu) is a stadium located in Toyohira-ku, Sapporo, Japan, and is primarily used for baseball and association football. It is the home field of the baseball team Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters and the association football club Consadole Sapporo. It is one of the planned football venues for the 2020 Summer Olympics, is the planned venue for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2017 Asian Winter Games, and is a planned venue of 2019 Rugby World Cup. The stadium was previously a venue of the 2002 edition of the FIFA World Cup.

History

The Sapporo Dome opened in 2001 with 41,580 seats. This stadium hosted 3 games during the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Germany vs Saudi Arabia, Argentina vs England and Italy vs Ecuador; all three matches were in the first round.

The Dome hosted the opening ceremonies to the 2007 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships on February 22 and hosted the closing ceremonies of the championships on March 4. It also made history as being the first venue where both indoor and nighttime skiing events took place for the first time on a world championship or Winter Olympic Games level with competitions in the cross country skiing sprints (men's and women's individual, and men's and women's team) and the cross country portion of the 7.5 km sprint event in the nordic combined. In order to generate snow, the stadium used its turf conversion hovering system to facilitate the snow making process for the skiing competitions. The opening ceremony featured Maki Ohguro, a local artist from Sapporo, Japanese drum demonstrations and other performances paying tributes to local customs and traditions. For the championships, seating capacity was reduced to 30,000.

Sapporo

Sapporo (札幌市, Sapporo-shi)  listen  is the fourth-largest city in Japan by population, and the largest city on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. Located in Ishikari Subprefecture, it is the capital of Hokkaido Prefecture, and an ordinance-designated city of Japan.

Sapporo is known outside Japan for having hosted the 1972 Winter Olympics, the first ever held in Asia, and for the city's annual Yuki Matsuri, internationally referred to as the Sapporo Snow Festival, which draws more than 2 million tourists from around the world. The city is also home to Sapporo Brewery and the white chocolate biscuits called shiroi koibito (白い恋人, "white sweetheart").

History

Early history

Before its establishment, the area occupied by Sapporo (known as the Ishikari Plain) was home to a number of indigenous Ainu settlements. In 1866, at the end of the Edo Period, construction began on a canal through the area, encouraging a number of early settlers to establish Sapporo village. The settlement's name was taken from the Ainu language sat poro pet (サッ・ポロ・ペッ), and can be translated as "dry, great river".

Dome

A dome (from Latin: domus) is an architectural element that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere. The precise definition has been a matter of controversy. There are also a wide variety of forms and specialized terms to describe them. A dome can rest upon a rotunda or drum, and can be supported by columns or piers that transition to the dome through squinches or pendentives. A lantern may cover an oculus and may itself have another dome.

Domes have a long architectural lineage that extends back into prehistory and they have been constructed from mud, stone, wood, brick, concrete, metal, glass, and plastic over the centuries. The symbolism associated with domes includes mortuary, celestial, and governmental traditions that have likewise developed over time.

Domes have been found from early Mesopotamia, which may explain the form's spread. They are found in Persian, Hellenistic, Roman, and Chinese architecture in the Ancient world, as well as among a number of contemporary indigenous building traditions. They were popular in Byzantine and medieval Islamic architecture, and there are numerous examples from Western Europe in the Middle Ages. The Renaissance style spread from Italy in the Early modern period. Advancements in mathematics, materials, and production techniques since that time resulted in new dome types. The domes of the modern world can be found over religious buildings, legislative chambers, sports stadiums, and a variety of functional structures.

Consadole Sapporo

Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo (北海道コンサドーレ札幌, Hokkaidō Konsadōre Sapporo) is a Japanese professional football club, which plays in the J2 League. The team is based in Sapporo, on the island of Hokkaido.

The club name of "Consadole" is made from consado, a reverse of the Japanese word Dosanko (道産子, meaning "people of Hokkaido") and the Spanish expression Ole.

Unlike other teams, their main home ground at Sapporo Dome is also used by the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters baseball team, so some home games are moved to Sapporo Atsubetsu Park Stadium.

History

Toshiba S.C. (1935–1995)

Consadole's club tradition dates back to 1935 when Toshiba Horikawa-cho Soccer Club was founded in Kawasaki, Kanagawa. They were promoted to the now-defunct Japan Soccer League Division 2 in 1978. They adopted new name Toshiba Soccer Club in 1980 and were promoted to the JSL Division 1 in 1989. Relegating themselves as they were not ready for J. League implementation, they joined the newly formed Japan Football League in 1992 and played the last season as Toshiba S.C. in 1995.