Japanese automotive manufacturer Toyota has announced plans to develop a new arena that will be the home of B.League basketball team Alvark Tokyo.
The project, which has an envisioned capacity of around 10,000, will involve the club, of which Toyota is the main sponsor, along with Toyota Motor Corporation and its real estate management arm, Toyota Fudosan.
The Tokyo A-Arena will be built at the site of the former Toyota showroom facility, Mega Web, in the Koto-ku ward of the Japanese capital. While Toyota Motor Corporation owns the land, Toyota Fudosan will be the builder-owner and the arena will be operated by the club.
Scheduled to open in autumn 2025 and with ‘Let’s discover the potential together!’ as its concept, the project is intended to create a facility integrating and unleashing a wide range of offerings, particularly in the areas of sports, mobility, and sustainability, with cooperation from various partners.
Along with hosting Alvark Tokyo, the facility will also stage indoor sports such as volleyball and table tennis, along with the likes of urban sports, parasports and esports. Toyota said it will seek to achieve “next-generation sports experiences” by proposing varied new ways to enjoy spectating and introducing cutting-edge technology.
In addition to using Toyota’s mobility technology, the company also plans to collaborate with various companies in adopting their services and technologies to make the arena experience “more convenient and fun”. The company said its goal is to open up the potential of mobility technology and create an unprecedented arena experience.
The facility will have two outdoor parks to contribute to the local community, and in addition to efforts at reducing arena waste generation, Toyota is exploring LEED certification, which it claims will be a first for any Japanese arena.
Akio Toyoda, president of Toyota and chairman of Toyota Fudosan, said: “This new arena project incorporates two ideas of ours. The first is to show ‘gratitude to sports and athletes.’ The second is to give ‘continued support to people who push their potential.’
“This arena will become the new home of Alvark Tokyo, Toyota’s basketball team, but we hope it will also become sacred ground for all kinds of other competitions. We hope that it will also provide power to parasports and competitions with a low number of competitors, low recognition, and few supporters.
“The Tokyo A-Arena project starts today, and we hope to connect with many people who share and support our ideas in the future. I hope we can make this a sacred ground for athletes who push their potential while sharing ideas with everyone.”
Along with seeking out companies and organisations interested in providing or jointly developing technologies and services to achieve the vision of the new arena, Toyota said it is open to offers from potential sponsors of the venue.
The announcement of the arena project comes after the Japan Sport Council last week revealed plans to build a new rugby union stadium in central Tokyo. The new Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium would replace the current venue of the same name, which is owned and operated by the Council.
Images: Toyota
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