Kimiidera Park, sports park in Wakayama, Japan
Kimiidera Park is a prefectural urban sports park in the Kimiidera district of Wakayama, covering 17.23 hectares including the Kimiidera greenway. It holds an athletics stadium with a 400-metre track seating about 19,200, an auxiliary field, a baseball stadium, a ball field for football and rugby, tennis courts and a climbing wall. The athletics and baseball facilities were renovated in 2012.
Kimiidera Park opened in April 1964 with an athletics stadium, outdoor tennis courts, ball fields and an auxiliary track; the baseball stadium followed in 1965, replacing the former prefectural ground Muko-no-Shiba. A climbing wall was added in February 1999. In 1971 the park hosted the 26th National Sports Festival, the Kuroshio Kokutai. The park covers 17.23 hectares including the Kimiidera greenway.
The park's name comes from the neighbouring Kimiidera temple, but its grounds are given over to sport: the baseball stadium hosts the prefectural high school tournament for the National High School Baseball Championship, and since 2024 the Wakayama Waves of the Kansai Independent Baseball League play here. The athletics stadium, the only major track in the prefecture, draws local and high school meets.
The park lies at 200 Mise, Wakayama, about 30 minutes on foot from JR Kimiidera Station on the Kino-kuni Line. Buses from JR Wakayama Station, Nankai Wakayama-shi Station and Kainan Station stop at Kyogijo-mae, roughly 3 minutes' walk away. The grounds cover 17.23 hectares including the Kimiidera greenway, with separate athletics, baseball, tennis and climbing facilities.
The park's grounds once held the Kimiidera Racecourse, which closed in 1987; the site is now occupied by the Wakayama Medical University Hospital. The park also has a climbing wall, added in February 1999, alongside its track, baseball and tennis facilities.
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