The is a regatta venue for

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically a ...

and

canoeing Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. In some parts of Europe, canoeing refers to both canoeing and kayaking, with a canoe being called an 'open canoe' or Canadian. A few of the recreational ...

, situated in

Kōtō is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward in the Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis in Japan. The ward refers to itself as Kōtō City in English. As of May 1, 2025, the ward has an estimated population of 543,730, and a population density of . The total ...

and Ōta,

Tokyo Bay is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan spanning the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture, on the southern coast of the island of Honshu. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. Th ...

, in Japan.

History

The venue was built for the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

and

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disability, disabilities. There are Winter Paralympic Games, Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 ...

. Construction began in 2016 and it was inaugurated in June 2019. It was built by

Tokyo Metropolitan Government The is the government of the Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolis. One of the 47 Prefectures of Japan, prefectures of Japan, the government consists of a popularly elected governor and assembly. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, headquarters build ...

on the waterfront site and is the only rowing venue in Tokyo that meets international standards. The first international event that was held here were the 2019 World Rowing Junior Championships. Olympic rowing events are held from 23 to 30 July 2021. The hopes to be able to continue to maintain it after the Olympics. In January 2021, it was reported that oysters were attaching themselves to the floats used to suppress waves in the venue, resulting in 140 million yen (US$1.3 million) in costs to remove them.

Location and description

Sea Forest Waterway is located in the special ward of

. The course is located between two artificial islands, with the buildings associated with the course on Umi no mori. The other island is Reiwajima, which belongs to the Ōta special ward. Tokyo Port Seaside Road is a four-lane highway on Reiwajima, with

Tokyo Gate Bridge is a truss cantilever bridge across Tokyo Bay in Kōtō, Tokyo, Japan. It opened on 12 February 2012 with an estimated total construction cost of 113 billion yen for the Stage II section of highway including the bridge.Official "flyer" shows St ...

connecting this road across

. Tokyo Gate Bridge provides the backdrop to the rowing course looking from start to the finish line. There is no public transport access to the venue, with the nearest rapid transit station—

Tokyo Teleport Station is an underground railway station on the Rinkai Line in Kōtō, Tokyo, Japan, operated by Tokyo Waterfront Area Rapid Transit (TWR). Lines Tokyo Teleport Station is served by the Rinkai Line from to . The station is situated between and s ...

that is located on the

Rinkai Line The is a railway line in Tokyo, Japan. It is the only line operated by the third-sector company Tokyo Waterfront Area Rapid Transit. It connects central Tokyo to the artificial islands of Aomi and Odaiba. The line is served by some trains on ...

—is about away. The course is separated from

by dams at each end of the course, which hold the water at a consistent depth of about . The course is long and wide. Each lane is wide. There are eight lanes. The facility has a 2,000-seat permanent grandstand as well as space for a temporary grandstand for 14,000 more spectators for Olympic events. The starting pontoons are located immediately adjacent to and north-east of the Chubo-Ohashi Bridge. At the , the Umi no mori Ohashi Bridge goes over the course.

Haneda Airport , also known as and sometimes abbreviated to ''Tokyo-Haneda'', is the busier of the two international airports serving the Greater Tokyo Area, the other one being Narita International Airport (NRT). It serves as the primary domestic base of J ...

is just to the south from here, with planes flying low over Sea Forest Waterway.

References

{{Olympic venues rowing Olympic canoeing venues Olympic rowing venues Rowing venues in Japan Sports venues in Tokyo Sports venues completed in 2019 2019 establishments in Japan Venues of the 2020 Summer Olympics