in the Aoyama

Aoyama, Tokyo

is a neighborhood of Tokyo, located in the northeastern Minato Ward. During the Edo Period, Aoyama was home to various temples, shrines, and samurai residences. The name Aoyama derived from a samurai named Aoyama Tadanari who served the Tokugawa Shogunate and held his mansion in this area...

 district of central Tokyo

Tokyo

, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

 is the spiritual home of Japanese rugby union and the headquarters of the Japan Rugby Football Union

Japan Rugby Football Union

The Japan Rugby Football Union is the governing body for rugby union in Japan. It was formed November 30, 1926 and is currently one of only two federations from a "Tier 2" country with a seat on the International Rugby Board executive council, the sport's international governing body...

.

Facilities

The stadium currently seats 25,194 spectators, but only part of the stands are covered. A large electronic scoreboard was added to the grounds as a step toward modernization before the fifth Rugby World Cup

Rugby World Cup

The Rugby World Cup is an international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board and held every four years since 1987....

 in 2003.

On April 19, 2007 it was announced that the stadium was to be equipped with lights for night games by the end of July, to assist with the RWC 2015 bid. The first rugby game under lights was Japan v Asian Barbarians in August 2007, the send-off for Japan going to RWC 2007. Since then it has been used for the first Top League game of the 2007-8 season between Suntory Sungoliath

Suntory Sungoliath

Suntory Sungoliath is owned by the Suntory beverage company and is one of the Japanese rugby union teams in the Top League. The team is based in Fuchū, Tokyo, as is their local rival Toshiba Brave Lupus...

 and Toshiba Brave Lupus

Toshiba Brave Lupus

Toshiba Brave Lupus is a Japanese rugby union team in the Top League. They are based in Fuchu, Tokyo, as is their local rival Suntory Sungoliath. They won the second ever Top League championship in the 2004-5 season and the Microsoft Cup in 2005 under their innovative and inventive coach Masahiro...

, also played under lights and won 10-3 by the former on October 26, 2008.

History

Originally completed in 1947, it was at first called Tokyo Rugby Stadium. In 1953 the name was changed to Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium. The stadium also served as a venue for football

Football at the 1964 Summer Olympics

The football competition at the 1964 Summer Olympics started on October 11 and ended on October 23. Only one event, the men's tournament, was contested...

 matches in the 1964 Summer Olympics

1964 Summer Olympics

The 1964 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Tokyo, Japan in 1964. Tokyo had been awarded with the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subsequently passed to Helsinki because of Japan's...

.

The name Chichibunomiya commemorates the sporting prince, Prince Chichibu

Prince Chichibu

, also known as Prince Yasuhito, was the second son of Emperor Taishō and a younger brother of the Emperor Shōwa. As a member of the Imperial House of Japan, he was the patron of several sporting, medical, and international exchange organizations...

, who was not a rugby union player but was passionately fond of the sport and died in 1953. His statue is in the stadium.

On February 3, 2008 snow prevented two Top League games being played in the 13th and final round of the fifth season. They were postponed to February 9.

Starting in 2012, the stadium will host the Japan Sevens

Japan Sevens

The Japan Sevens is an annual rugby union sevens tournament held in Tokyo, Japan. It´s held at the Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium since 2011 and is part of the IRB Sevens World Series....

, a newly created event on the IRB Sevens World Series

IRB Sevens World Series

The IRB Sevens World Series, known officially as the HSBC Sevens World Series as of the 2010-11 season, through sponsorship from banking group HSBC, and also sometimes called the World Sevens Series, is a series of international rugby union sevens tournaments organised for the first time in the...

 for men's national rugby sevens

Rugby sevens

Rugby sevens, also known as seven-a-side or VIIs, is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players, instead of the usual 15, with shorter matches. Rugby sevens is administered by the International Rugby Board , the body responsible for rugby union worldwide...

 teams. The tournament will be the seventh on the circuit schedule, with the first edition to straddle March and April.

See also

• Kintetsu Hanazono Rugby Stadium
  Kintetsu Hanazono rugby stadium
  Kintetsu Hanazono Rugby Stadium in Higashiosaka is the oldest dedicated rugby union stadium in Japan. Owned by Kintetsu Corporation, it opened in 1929 and has a capacity of 30,000...
  
  
• Japan national rugby union team
  Japan national rugby union team
  The Japan national rugby union team represent Japan in international rugby union competitions. Japan is traditionally the strongest rugby union power in Asia but has both enjoyed and endured mixed results against non-Asian teams over the years...
  
  
• Top League
  Top League
  The Top League is a professional rugby union league created by the Japan Rugby Football Union to drive up the overall standard and popularity of the sport in the country and improve the results of the Japan national rugby union team. The first season was 2003-04 and featured 12 teams...
  
  

External links