Location: Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture
場所：所沢、埼玉県
Home Team: Saitama Seibu Lions
チーム；埼玉西武ライオンズ
Capacity/定員: 35,655
Opened: April 14, 1979
At number 7 on the countdown, we stay in the Kanto (関東) area but head slightly north to Saitama prefecture. Although this stadium has been through several name changes in its day, it is the Seibu Dome. Ah, a dome... but! It's not what you have come to expect from a dome, it is actually really cool. There's no air conditioning! The reason is that it is not completely enclosed. Although the roof covers the entire field and stands, beyond the stands the walls don't touch the ground. It's pretty cool. It lets the breeze flow in and lends to the possibility of balls actually leaving the yard. The concessions around the stadium are pretty nice with a decent variety of food. The security at Seibu dome is a bit on the strict side so hide your beer well! Seibu Dome is also a bit different than a lot of other stadiums around here in that it's not really near a big station but this seems to keep down on unnecesary crowding from passengers that haven't just left the stadium. The closest station is Seibukyujo-mae (西武球場前) and the stadium is surrounded by trees and a sort-of theme park. The stadium itself started out without a roof and remained that way for nearly 20 years before the roof was completed in 1998. 
The most unique feature of the stadium the the outfield which only has a few rows of bleachers behind a sloped, astro turf hill where people can throw down a tarp, kick off their shoes and set up a little picnic like atmosphere. Don't let the shoes go to far away because they are great beer holders since it is sloped, your beer will fall over if you set it down. Seibu fans are pretty loyal eventhough many of their best players have left over recent years and they have some of the best cheers of any fans in Japan. Catchy!location: +2
history: -3
fanmasphere: +2
concessions: +2
smoking: +2
bathrooms: +2
sight lines: +1
field surface: -5
outside: +2
surroundings: +2
seats: +3
atmosphere: +3
security: -3
total: +10
3 comments:
i went to a game there and it was cool...i forget who the lions were playing but each side had a full mariachi band going while their respective teams were batting...enthusiasm
by the way, nice reviews
yeah, it's a really nice, unique place. it just loses some points for having a dome, and being out in the boonies! But even the dome is an interesting factor, something I've never seen before.
and, thanks!
Post a Comment