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Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota), Toyota Fudosan Co., Ltd. (Toyota Fudosan), and Toyota Alvark Tokyo Corporation (Toyota Alvark Tokyo) are promoting the TOKYO A-ARENA PROJECT to construct a next-generation arena at the site of the former Toyota showroom facility MEGA WEB in Koto-ku, Tokyo.
Concept
With “Let’s discover the potential together!” as its concept, the TOKYO A-ARENA PROJECT is intended to become a place integrating and unleashing a wide range of potentialities, particularly in the areas of sports, mobility, and sustainability, with cooperation from various partners.
Core Themes
Next-Generation Sports Experiences: Making people want to watch and play more
Toyota Alvark Tokyo, a member of the B. League First Division, will use the new arena as its home court. The facility will also stage indoor sports such as volleyball and table tennis, urban sports, parasports, e-sports, and more to widely share the appeal of sports.
In addition, we aim to achieve next-generation sports experiences by proposing varied new ways to enjoy spectating and introducing cutting-edge technology. By conveying to even more people the passion and drive of athletes as they push their potential, we aim to encourage and bring joy to as many people as possible.
Future Mobility Services: More convenient and enjoyable
In addition to using Toyota’s mobility technology, we also plan to collaborate with various companies in adopting their services and technologies to make the arena experience more convenient and fun. Our goal is to open up the potential of mobility technology and create an unprecedented arena experience.
Sustainable Lifestyle Designs: More connected, continuously changing
The facility will have two outdoor parks to contribute to community vitality, and in addition to efforts at reducing arena waste generation, we are exploring LEED certification―a first for any Japanese arena. As the area name Aomi means blue sea in Japanese, we hope to help bring back a blue sea by creating sustainable lifestyles with the community and arena visitors that include recycling and reuse.
About the TOKYO A-ARENA PROJECT Name
Based on the concept of “Let’s discover the potential together!” the letter “A” was included in the name to incorporate numerous ideas.
- “A” stands for Alvark Tokyo, which will serve as a driving force in the B. League with the new arena as its home court.
- “A” also stands for Aomi, as we hope the facility will be a favorite of the local community.
- “A” is for people’s “ability,” the power of people, as we hope to expand their potential.
- “A” is the first letter of the alphabet, the beginning of everything.
“I have been saved by sports many times. In the 13 years since I became president, there hasn’t been a time I could say was peaceful. Throughout it all, however, it was athletes who encouraged me. Those athletes bearing the Toyota name on their backs always expressed gratitude for the support they received to compete, saying, “We will win!” and “Toyota will never lose.” They have given their all, no matter what difficulties they faced. Whenever I saw those athletes refusing to give up, I, too, felt I had to do my best and not give up. It is no exaggeration to say that Toyota overcame many hardships thanks to the support that sports have given us.
So, how can we return that favor? I have never forgotten that question, and that is what led Toyota to support the Paralympics. Toyota became an IPC partner in 2015 and launched a program to support Para-athletes. Last year, when the Paralympic Games were held, we heard messages of gratitude from Para-athletes who were able to continue competing because of that program, and once more, it was athletes encouraging me. I believe that sports have the power to give us all courage. Listening to those Para-athletes, I again realized the massive power of sports to expand human potential.
This new arena project incorporates two ideas of ours. The first is to show “gratitude to sports and athletes.” The second is to give “continued support to people who push their potential.”
This arena will become the new home of Alvark Tokyo, Toyota’s basketball team, but we hope it will also become sacred ground for all kinds of other competitions. We hope that it will also provide power to parasports and competitions with a low number of competitors, low recognition, and few supporters.
I am confident that when people can see, first-hand and close-up, competition with athletes they have never seen before, seeking to set new records never before achieved by humankind and opening up new potentialities, and actually succeeding in that, many people―including us―will feel encouragement and joy.
The TOKYO A-ARENA PROJECT starts, and we hope to connect with many people who share and support our ideas in the future. I hope we can make this a sacred ground for athletes who push their potential while sharing ideas with everyone. Thank you for your support.” – Akio Toyoda, President of Toyota and Chairman of Toyota Fudosan.
Source: Toyota
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