午夜剧场

The Hiyoshi Athletics Field was built in 1934, the same year the Hiyoshi Campus was established. At the time, various sports facilities were planned to create an ideal physical education environment on the Hiyoshi Campus, and this was the first of those facilities. The athletics field at that time was already close to its current form, consisting of a 400-meter oval track, surrounding grass slopes, and tiered stands on the east and west sides with a capacity of 3,000 people. Since then, it has been maintained through appropriate renovations and repairs. On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of 午夜剧场, a large-scale renovation project was carried out as part of the commemorative projects, and the reborn stadium was completed in September 2008.

To improve both the environment as an athletics field and as a ball game field using the infield, this new stadium focused on three main renovation elements: 1) a complete renovation of the track, 2) the installation of artificial turf on the infield, and 3) the construction of auxiliary facility buildings and infrastructure improvements such as drainage systems. In addition, part of the Kyoseikan Collaboration Complex, which was being constructed concurrently, was developed so that it could be used as spectator seating and a stage for the athletics field, enhancing its environment as an event space. The 150th Anniversary Commemorative Ceremony was held there on November 8.

The 400-meter track was transformed from a 7-lane clay-paved track with a triple-radius curve (a shape where the curve is composed of three connected arcs with different centers) into a 7-lane all-weather full-urethane paved track with a single-radius curve (a curve consisting of a single arc), which is standard for certified athletics fields in Japan. Furthermore, while natural grass is generally used for infields used as throwing areas, in the case of the Hiyoshi Athletics Field, artificial turf was essential because it is frequently used for physical education classes and club activities other than the track and field team, making natural grass difficult to maintain.

However, at the time the renovation plan for the athletics field was being considered, there was no artificial turf compatible with throwing events. Using artificial turf for throwing events presented problems such as javelins not sticking or the turf being damaged by the impact of hammers. Therefore, for the renovation, the construction company and the artificial turf manufacturer developed an artificial turf that could accommodate both throwing events and ball games, resulting in the birth of the world's first athletics field using artificial turf compatible with throwing events.

Before the renovation, the Hiyoshi Athletics Field was certified as a Class 3 stadium under the old regulations (up to 2006) for certified stadiums. After the renovation, it fell under Class 4 according to the new regulations (from 2007 onwards) and received certification from the Japan Association of Athletics Federations in September 2008. In a competition against Waseda University held shortly after certification, a Japanese record was set in the men's 4x200m relay. Javelin throwing was held in the infield, and when the javelins thrown by the athletes pierced the artificial turf perfectly, cheers erupted from the spectators.

(Takashi Shigemori, Director, Office of Facilities and Property Management)