The National Stadium, or ‘Kokuritsu kyōgijō’, which will be known as the Olympic Stadium during the Tokyo Games, was officially completed in November 2019. Demolition of the 1964 Olympics venue had begun in 2015 to make way for the 68,000-seater created with sustainability in mind.

"I think more people in architectural industry began to be interested in using wood. Placing an importance on being eco-friendly has been one of the biggest concerns in global scale and it made us realized that using wood could contribute to reducing CO2. At the same time, the durability of wood and new technology to enhance durability had made a significant progress. Nowadays, wooden houses become trend in the world. However, there are differences in European style and Japanese style. I hope that I can spread Japanese style to the world." 

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Designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, the look of the stadium – a ‘living tree’ – is reminiscent of traditional Japanese temple design with wooden facades and greenery to blend with the nearby Meiji Jingu Gaien area. The multi-layered eaves are made of wood gathered from Japan's 47 prefectures, while more than 47,000 trees were planted within the stadium’s precinct.

Inside, 185 airflow-creating fans and mist-cooling systems will create cooler competition conditions, and the three tiers of seating, which will not feature overseas spectators for the Games, is in earthy and green tones to mimic sunlight filtering through the trees, or in this case the roof, and on to the forest floor – the seating and Mondo track. 

(Text by Worldathletes.org)

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