Stadiums in Japan: Sapporo Dome
Sapporo City, Hokkaido Prefecture

Sapporo is the northernmost city that will host a World Cup match. The city is located on the island of Hokkaido, about two hours by plane from Tokyo. It is a very scenic location, in the heart of a broad valley at the base of beautiful mountains. Sapporo has played host to the 1972 Winter Olympic Games, and is a popular winter sports mecca for tourists from the big cities, who are looking for an excape from the hustle and bustle. Located on Japan's northern frontier, Sapporo is a relatively new city, founded only about 150 years ago, though in population, it is Japan's fifth-largest metropolis. Since it is a relatively new city, Sapporo is laid out in a rectangular grid, with broad avenues, unlike the narrow, meandering lanes of most other Japanese cities.


Amidst the pleasant fields and rolling hills of suburban Sapporo is perhaps the most technically advanced feature of the 2002 World Cup -- Sapporo Dome Stadium. Because of its location, in the chilly northern regions of the country, Sapporo has much longer winters and heavier snowfalls than any other major city in Japan. Because of the severe winter weather, it is difficult to schedule soccer matches during the months of November-April.


In the past, this has been quite a problem for the local football team, Consadole Sapporo. Although Consadole has one of the most energetic and loyal fan clubs in the league, their football season is naturally limited by weather conditions, since it is impossible to play football in the snow. Until recently, the J.League schedule was adjusted so that Consadole played most of its matches away during the early months of the year, but even so, it was forced to play many "home" matches at distant locations. Thus, even if it had not been for the World Cup, Sapporo was in need of an all-weather stadium. The only problem was that it is hard to grow grass in an enclosed stadium, and J.League rules specify that all matches be played on natural turf.

To solve the problem, the architects of Sapporo Dome Stadium came up with a truly remarkable feat of engineering. Rather build a roof that could open and close, to let light into the stadium, they decided to build the pitch outside, in the sunlight, and move it into the stadium only when matches are being played. As the graphic on this page shows, the stadium actually has a movable pitch, which is elevated by a cushion of compressed air and moved into the stadium prior to a match. The stands then rotate so that they are as close to the pitch as possible.

Sapporo Stadium is a truly magnificent feat of engineering, and as the pictures below should indicate, it is also a very beautiful venue for the World Cup.

(Thanks to source : www.wldcup.com)