is a sports

stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

used primarily for

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

. The stadium is in Fukuroi City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, although the stadium itself is merely the centrepiece of the larger Ogasayama Sports Park which extends into neighbouring

Kakegawa is a city in western Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 117,925 in 45,519 households. The total area of the city is . Geography Kakegawa is in the coastal plains of southwest Shizuoka Prefecture. It is border ...

. The stadium's capacity is 50,889. It is now the primary venue for major sporting events in Shizuoka Prefecture, including

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

, for which it is fully equipped.

Usage

Shizuoka Stadium opened in 2001 and hosted its first major event on May 12, 2001, which was the Shizuoka derby J. League match between

Shimizu S-Pulse is a Japanese professional association football, football club located in Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka, Shimizu-ku, Shizuoka (city), Shizuoka, Shizuoka Prefecture. S-Pulse is going to compete in the J1 League for the 2025 Season, after winning promotio ...

and

Júbilo Iwata is a Japanese professional association football, football team based in Iwata, Shizuoka, Iwata, located in Shizuoka Prefecture. The club competes in J2 League following relegation from J1 League in 2024 J1 League, 2024. Etymology The team's ...

. A record crowd of 52,959 saw an extra time 1-0 victory for Shimizu. Ecopa continues to be the venue for Júbilo Iwata's more high-profile games, including the Shizuoka derby. Shimizu S-Pulse have not used the stadium for a home league since

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

. In recent years Ecopa has also been home to one semifinal match of the

Emperor's Cup , commonly known as or Japan FA Cup, and rebranded as The JFA Emperor's Cup from 2024 onwards, is a Japanese annual football competition. It has the longest tradition of any football tournament in Japan, dating back to 1921, before the formatio ...

, sharing the duty with the Kokuritsu in

Shinjuku , officially called Shinjuku City, is a special ward of Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative center, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world ( Shinjuku Station) as well as the Tokyo Metropol ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. But, due to its isolation and the fact that both semifinals are held at the same time, Ecopa usually has less attendance. The stadium played host to some matches during the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

, including Belgium versus Russia in the group stage (which Belgium won 3–2) and the quarter-final match between Brazil and England, which Brazil won 2–1. It hosted the 2003 58th

National Sports Festival of Japan The is the national premier sports event of Japan. It consists of three stages. The skating and ice hockey stage takes place in January, the skiing stage takes place in February, and the main Autumn tournament takes place in September and Octob ...

main stadium. The stadium was used as one of the venues for

2019 Rugby World Cup The 2019 Rugby World Cup () was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening matc ...

(Japan) which was the first

Rugby World Cup The Men's Rugby World Cup is a rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams, the winners of which are recognised as the World championship, world champions of the sport. The tournament is administer ...

to be held in Asia. Next to the stadium is the indoor Ecopa Arena which is used for various performances and shows.

Access

Aino Station was constructed at the same time as the stadium and is a fifteen-minute walk from the stadium. Aino Station is four minutes west of Kakegawa Station, the nearest

Shinkansen The , colloquially known in English as the bullet train, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan. It was initially built to connect distant Japanese regions with Tokyo, the capital, to aid economic growth and development. Beyond lon ...

station to Ecopa. When the stadium is used for J. League or international fixtures, shuttle buses run from Kakegawa station to the stadium. The walk from Aino Station to the stadium is notable for the sixteen works of art which line the route. These were commissioned to commemorate the 2002 World Cup, with each art piece being designed by an artist from a previous host of the competition.

2002 FIFA World Cup matches

The following matches were played at Shizuoka Stadium during the 2002 World Cup:

2019 Rugby World Cup matches

The following matches were played at Shizuoka Stadium during the 2019 Rugby World Cup:

References

External links

Official site of Ecopa
{{Authority control Football venues in Japan Rugby union stadiums in Japan Athletics (track and field) venues in Japan Shimizu S-Pulse Júbilo Iwata Sports venues in Shizuoka Prefecture Sports venues completed in 2001 Fukuroi, Shizuoka 2001 establishments in Japan