Kashima Soccer Stadium, Soccer stadium in Jinkōji, Kashima, Japan.
Kashima Soccer Stadium is a football ground in Jinkōji, Kashima, Ibaraki Prefecture. Its two-tier stands hold 40,728 seats, all with backrests, and rise to 49.5 m across six floors. The natural-grass pitch measures 115 by 78 m, and an oval roof covers two-thirds of the seating.
Construction started in March 1992 following the introduction of professional soccer in Japan and the architectural firm Nikken Sekkei drew up the plans. A few years later the venue became the setting for international matches during the 2002 football tournament.
The stadium is not named after the club: Kashima Antlers take their name from the city, and since 1 July 2025 the venue carries the sponsored nickname Mercari Stadium, used in matches and events while the official name stays Ibaraki Kashima Stadium. A bronze statue of Zico, who scored the stadium's first goal in 1993, stands at the ground.
The venue holds more than forty thousand spectators and features a dedicated train station on the JR East Kashima Line right at the grounds. Arriving by rail offers convenient access without long walks.
The stadium's pitch was the first in a J.League venue in Japan to have sprinklers installed within the playing surface, paired with an under-heating system to control soil temperature. Since 2018 the turf has been a warm-season variety called Seashore Paspalum, chosen after about two years of trials at the stadium because the earlier Kentucky bluegrass struggled in summer heat.
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