Kanazawa Stadium – design description

When was the concept for a new football stadium in Kanazawa created?

In 2019, a concept for a new football stadium was created at the initiative of the Kanazawa city government for the Zweigen Kanazawa club, which has played in the J2 League since 2015. The facility is to replace the Ishikawa Athletics Stadium, where Kanazawa footballers play.

Where will the new stadium for Zweigen Kanazawa be built?

The new stadium will be built at the Johoku Citizen Sports Park complex, which already has two other venues - a baseball stadium and a football stadium. The football one has only one stand and can accommodate 3010 spectators. In the past, it has served as a home venue for the Kanazawa team. The arena will stand in the southern part of the complex, on the site previously occupied by two training pitches.

When will the new stadium for Zweigen Kanazawa be built?

You can see coverage of the construction of Kanazawa Stadium on a separate subpage

The Azusa Sekkei studio, which previously designed, among other things, the indoor swimming pool at the Johoku Citizen Sports Park, was responsible for the design of the stadium. A consortium of Kumagai Gumi, UEKI Corporation, Suzuki Construction and Hokuriku Koken became the main contractor for the facility. The official start of construction took place on September 28, 2021.

Development of the new stadium is expected to cost 7.98 billion yen. Work is expected to be completed by the end of 2023, so that the facility can be inaugurated before the start of the 2024 season. A crowdfunding campaign was conducted during the construction, raising 56 million yen.

What will the new Kanazawa Stadium look like?

The new stadium will have a football-specific layout with a starting capacity of 10,000 spectators (including 8,000 seats), the minimum required to participate in the J2 League. Should the Kanazawa team be promoted to the J1 League, the facility will be expandable to a capacity of at least 15,000 spectators, which is required at this league level.

The concept is to build three stands, two along the pitch and one behind the south goal. The stands along the pitch will be divided into tiers. The main stand with VIP boxes and extensive infrastructure will be located on the west side. The south stand will be lower than the others. All spectator seats in the stadium will be covered by a roof.

A raised platform will stretch along the south stand, which will also provide access to the stands along the pitch. Thanks to the distinctive form of the roof, the south stand is to resemble a traditional Japanese gate, the so-called torii, from the outside. Behind the north gate, it is planned to erect a large video screen.

The pitch of the new stadium will have a natural grass surface. The project will also include a 500 m² storage facility for use in the event of a major natural disaster.