EGAO Kenko Stadium

The stadium sits in Kumamoto with a track running round the pitch rather than surrounding a compact pitch, so the geometry feels open.

Roasso Kumamoto call it home, and the architecture carries the feeling of a multi-purpose ground: the space is built for athletics as much as football.

The building has changed hands for names more than once, trading from Kumamoto Athletics Stadium to Umakana-Yokana Stadium before settling on Egao Kenko Stadium after a deal with a health food company. The shift in titles maps a steady commercial rhythm rather than a sudden reinvention. It opened in 1998 and has kept its track ever since, which means the football pitch sits inside a full athletics ring rather than cutting into the stands.

Some visitors remember it as a training base for Belgium during the 2002 FIFA World Cup, though that detail is not widely confirmed. The ground also hosted two pool matches for the 2019 Rugby World Cup, France against Tonga and Wales against Uruguay, which fits the multi-purpose layout. A concert by Mr.Children took place in the autumn of 2017, and a renovation was noted in 2010, though nothing specific about the work survives in the public record. The address is 2776 Hirayama-machi, Higashi-ku, Kumamoto City, Kumamoto 861-8012, Japan, and the official website is managed by the Kumamoto Prefecture Sports Promotion Foundation.