Yoyogi National Gymnasium

You can see the shape of the building before you understand what it is. It is a structure built for the 1964 Summer Olympics, but it does not look like the concrete bowls of other Olympic arenas.

This is how the gymnasium has lived for sixty years: a sports arena for a few weeks in 1964, hosting the volleyball and basketball tournaments, and then a music hall for the rest of the time. The Beatles played here in 1966, and the sound of a crowd waiting on those same steps has not changed. The capacity is 13,291, but the number is less important than the feeling of the place.

Inside, the floor is polished wood, natural maple or spruce, which is standard for indoor sports. Now, it is simply the place where the city goes when it wants to listen to music. The atmosphere is not loud in the same way a football stadium is. It is a different kind of pressure. The air feels still until the music starts.

The concrete has weathered, but the lines remain sharp. It is a place that has held its shape through the decades.