Kumagaya Sports & Culture Park, Sports and recreation complex in Kumagaya, Japan
Kumagaya Sports & Culture Park is a Saitama Prefecture-run urban park on the site of the 1988 Saitama Expo, opened as a park in April 1991. It holds the Kumagaya Rugby Ground, the Sainokuni Kumagaya Dome (a 76 m by 43 m arena plus an 80 m by 138 m artificial-turf field), a softball field with 70 m foul lines, an athletics stadium and the Sakura Oval Fort complex. A low curving wall of dark masonry with a reddish-brown top band runs along a paved path near the grounds.
The park occupies the site of the 1988 Saitama Exposition and opened as Kumagaya Sports & Culture Park in April 1991. Expansion began in 1996 for the 2004 National Sports Festival, with the Kumagaya Dome and athletics stadium completed in July 2003. It hosted the main events of the 2004 festival and the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
Locals often shorten the name to "Bunka Koen"; older residents may still call the whole site "the rugby ground", since the rugby stadium was long its main facility. The name Sainokuni Kumagaya Dome was chosen through a public competition, and the area name Sakura Oval Fort likewise came from an open call: "sakura" is Kumagaya's city tree, "oval" the rugby ball's shape, "fort" a team's base.
The park lies about 3 km north of Kumagaya Station's north exit; buses from the station's north-side stops serve the rugby ground, Kumagaya Dome and athletics stadium, with extra or direct services on event days. By car, leave the National Route 17 bypass at the Koizuka or park entrance junction and continue about 800 m north. A pedestrian overpass crosses Sports Park Street, linking the park's east and west sides.
The park's rugby ground hosted matches of the 2019 Rugby World Cup, and since 2021 it has been the training base of the Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights. Their 3.5-billion-yen Sakura Oval Fort complex, named by public competition, includes a hotel and a cafe where visitors can watch practice.
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