::Home Stadium::

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The Stadium
Size and Seats
Staircases
The Roof
Awards
Trivia

The Stadium

Fukuda Denshi Arena, commonly known as "Fukuari," was completed in 2005, after Chiba City joined Ichihara City as a hometown of the JEF United soccer club. The stadium is located within walking distance from JR Soga station, which conveniently lies on all three of the Uchibo, Sotobo, and Keiyo lines.

In a unique attempt for the construction of a J-League stadium, the soccer club held meetings with the team’s supporters to create the building plan of Fukuda Denshi Arena. 20,000 signatures were collected to make the supporter input a reality. Notable features of the stadium include: the incredibly close distance between the field and the stands, the stairs on the inside wall of the stadium, the roof covering 90% of the seating, and lack of standing room in the back area.

The stadium

Size and Seats

Fukuda Denshi Arena is relatively small for a J-League stadium with only 18,500 seats, but its small size is by far its best feature. Many other stadiums double as a facility to host other sports, most notably track and field events. In contrast, Fukuda Denshi Arena was built from the beginning as a soccer-only stadium. As a result, there is no track in front of the stands, allowing supporters to view the game from as close as 8m from the playing field (8m from the corner front row, and 15m from the back stands front row). Even the back row seating is only 35m away from the field, which is closer than the front row seating of Yokohama’s Nissan Stadium. There are also 55 wheelchair accessible seats, with 55 seats for those accompanying.

   
The stands

Staircases

Also in response to requests from the supporters, the 60 sets of staircases are all located on the inside of the stadium in full view of the field. Because soccer goals are rare, this minimizes the risk of missing an important moment when away from your seat in the middle of a game.

The stairs inside

Roof

Another unique design aspect is the roof. The roof is structured by arranging numerous triangular panels into a polyhedral shape. It covers approximately 90% of the seats, which allows supporters to view the games in comfort even in poor weather conditions. The roof’s interesting shape serves the purpose of gathering rainwater. The rainwater that is collected is recycled as flushing water in the bathrooms, and for watering the field. The arena is designated as a city evacuation site, so some water is stored for emergencies as well. The facility is also able to generate its own electricity.

The roof

Awards

These innovative design attempts have not gone without recognition. The stadium has won the 19th Annual Chiba City Best Architecture Award in 2006, the Best Design Award in 2007, and the Best Lighting Award in 2006.

   
Fukuda Denshi Arena

"Fukuari" Trivia!

 The "Fair Play" banners that are carried out on the field before every game, are signed by all of the players of each team to encourage good sportsmanship

  The first match here was held on October 16, 2005. A panel in commemoration of this match is hung in the main entrance of the stadium (closed to the public)

  A display case with Seiichiro Maki (#18)’s uniform from the Japan-Brazil 2006 FIFA World Cup game is placed by the entrance. The shoes are complete with dirt and grass from Germany still attached to the soles

  The shutters on the bottom level of the stadium open when there are no games in session, to allow wind to pass through the grass

  Wind slits are cut under the second level seating to improve ventilation

  The seats are a scattered mix of dark brown and bright orange in color. These colors were chosen to represent the steel plant that was cleared to make room for the stadium. The dark brown represents steel, and orange represents the color of the sparks that fly when steel is melted

  The remaining steel plant will be completely cleared upon completion of the Soga Sports Park, of which Fukuari is a part of

  The chairs in the home-side locker rooms are yellow, and the ones on the away-side are light blue

  The warm-up area with synthetic grass is also used to host exercise promotion classes for the elderly

  The windowed area on the second level is used to seat the players’ families or injured players who wish to watch the game

  The reception hall on the second floor seats sponsors during matches. Members of the Japanese royal family have also watched soccer games from this area

  The room used to film interviews is also used to host rakugo (a type of Japanese comedy) events. It seats 120 audience members

   

  There are 11 AED systems installed throughout the arena

  The "Welcome Stage" before the game features local performers and musicians