Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Loading...
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
A typical Khettara well.
Jorf Khettaras
Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument
Shadow Room
The Museum of Lost Tales
Sherlock Holmes Statue
Sherlock Holmes Statue
Loading...
Loading...

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All Japan Odate Nipro Hachiko Dome

Nipro Hachiko Dome

This sports stadium was made from 25,000 cypress trees and ranks among the world's largest wooden domes.

Odate, Japan

Added By
Tony Dunnell
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
CAPTION
Nipro Hachiko Dome.   掬茶/cc by-sa 4.0
Baseball at the Nipro Hachiko Dome.   掬茶/cc by-sa 4.0
Nipro Hachiko Dome.   Marho/cc by-sa 4.0
Nipro Hachiko Dome.   Marho/cc by-sa 4.0
Nipro Hachiko Dome.   Marho/cc by-sa 4.0
Nipro Hachiko Dome.   NASA World Wind/Public Domain
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

The Nipro Hachiko Dome is an airy and elegant wooden sports stadium in the city of Ōdate in northern Japan. Built by the acclaimed architect Toyo Ito, it ranks among the largest wooden domes in the world (the largest is the Superior Dome in Marquette, Michigan).

Completed in June 1997, the stadium has a capacity of 15,000 people and is primarily used as a baseball venue. Its semi-removable grandstands allow for a variety of other sports, too, including soccer and tennis, as well as non-sporting events.

The dome was built from the wood of 25,000 Akita cypress trees from the local prefecture, aged for 60 years and cut into planks. The planks were glued together and then covered in a special double Teflon-coated membrane made from a translucent fluoroethylene resin-coated fiberglass. This allows light to pass through the dome, to such an extent that artificial lighting is rarely needed during the day.

The apparent lightness of the structure—which, thanks to its design, seems to almost float above the ground—belies its size. The stadium measures 584 feet by 515 feet along its major and minor axes respectively, with a height of 171 feet. 

The dome was also designed with the local weather in mind, which is highly seasonal. Ōdate has warm to hot (and often humid) summers and sometimes severely cold winters. As such, the dome was designed to allow air to circulate freely, keeping the interior cool during the heat of the summer. The aerodynamic design is also able to resist strong winds and heavy snowfall during the winter. If snow starts to build up on the roof, warm air can be circulated between the two Teflon-coated membranes, keeping the snow under control.

Related Tags

Sports Architectural Oddities Architecture Woodwork Domes Baseball

Know Before You Go

The Nipro Hachiko Dome is located at Inaridai-1-1 Kamidaino in the northeast of Odate in the Akita Prefecture of northern Japan. Opening hours and entrance fees vary depending on the schedule of events.

Atlas Obscura Adventures

Hidden Japan: Sado Island, Nara & Kyoto

Explore a different side of Japan.

Book Now

Community Contributors

Added By

Tony Dunnell

Published

June 21, 2019

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • https://www.archdaily.com/348732/ad-classics-odate-dome-toyo-ito
  • http://architectuul.com/architecture/odate-dome
  • https://inhabitat.com/toyo-itos-levitating-dome-in-japan-defeats-snow-storms-and-monsoons/
  • https://web-japan.org/atlas/architecture/arc04.html
Nipro Hachiko Dome
Odate, 017-0031
Japan
40.292762, 140.586723

Nearby Places

Akita Dog Visitor Center

Odate, Japan

miles away

‘Homesick Hachiko’

Odate, Japan

miles away

Ōyu Stone Circles

Kazuno, Japan

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Odate

Odate

Japan

Places 3

Nearby Places

Akita Dog Visitor Center

Odate, Japan

miles away

‘Homesick Hachiko’

Odate, Japan

miles away

Ōyu Stone Circles

Kazuno, Japan

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Odate

Odate

Japan

Places 3

Related Places

  • Marquette, Michigan

    The Superior Dome

    As its grandiose name implies, this wooden dome is unsurpassed in size.

  • The Dome reborn

    Carbondale, Illinois

    Buckminster Fuller Dome Home

    The only dome home to be owned or occupied by dome inventor Buckminster Fuller.

  • The Doubleday House

    Ballston Spa, New York

    The Doubleday House

    The birthplace of the alleged inventor of baseball.

  • Interior of 575 Wandsworth

    London, England

    575 Wandsworth Road

    What started as a way to address damp basement walls turned into a house filled with intricate hand-carved designs.

  • Wooden Squirrels of Mount Royal Chalet.

    Montreal, Québec

    Wooden Squirrel Carvings

    The vaulted ceiling is home to a scurry of “squirrelgoyles.”

  • Miquel Barceló’s ceiling at the UN headquarters in Geneva.

    Geneva, Switzerland

    United Nations Ceiling

    This colorful but controversial ceiling has been likened to a 21st-century Sistine Chapel.

  • The Palm House.

    Belfast, Northern Ireland

    Belfast Botanic Gardens Palm House

    For part of the year, this innovative greenhouse is painted white to keep the plants from getting scorched.

  • Modernist architecture of the church.

    Huauchinango, Mexico

    Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción (Parish of Our Lady of the Assumption)

    This modernist church's massive sci-fi dome may be one of Latin America's largest.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.