Japanese Research Group singles out the Ricoh Arena

The Ricoh Arena was the only UK Venue to be visited by a group from Japan researching multi-purpose venues

Multi-purpose group chooses the Ricoh Arena

The Ricoh Arena in Coventry was the only UK venue to be visited by a group from Japan researching multi-purpose venues.

Plans are at the discussion stage to build a new 20,000 seat arena in Okinawa which is in the most southern part of Japan that is likely to be the home of FC Ryukyu who play in the Japan Football League.

The ten-strong group is also visiting the Allianz Arena, home of Bayern Munich, and Borussia Park where Borussia Mönchengladbach play in Germany as well as Lille in France and FC Basel – who knocked Manchester United out of the Champions League – in Switzerland.

Satoru Shiroma from the sports promotion division of the Okinawa Prefectural Government said the group of local government officials, stadium consultants and tourism companies were on the fact-finding mission to Europe ahead of building a multi-use venue in Okinawa which has a population of around 1.3 million.

He said: “At the moment there is no specific stadium in Okinawa where our main source of income is tourism.

“In order to have a football stadium, we thought it would be best to have a multi-purpose stadium to attract people for reasons other than football as well as visitors from mainland Japan. It can be used by singers and bands for concerts and we also have a lot of festivals in Japan.

“We wanted to see how overseas clubs use a multi-purpose stadium and having a casino here is interesting because we want to look into increasing revenue.

“The Ricoh Arena is really impressive. There is no stadium like this in Okinawa – it looks gorgeous and it has a very good feeling.”

Lisa Fisher, marketing and partnership manager at the Ricoh Arena, took the group on a tour of the only UK venue they were visiting.

“Marketing director Chas Moloney from Ricoh UK made the initial introductions after we were identified as a place they wished to visit and we were delighted to be their host,” she said.

“Following on from the visit by the Italian FA earlier this year, we are continuing to gain a reputation as being a forerunner in the creation and running of multi-purpose stadiums and we are only too happy to share our experiences with visitors from across the globe.”

PICTURE CAPTION: Lisa Fisher from the Ricoh Arena with the group from Okinawa in Japan