Belluna Dome

About

Belluna Dome (Berūna Dōmu) (also named Seibu Dome (Seibu Dōmu)) is a baseball stadium located in Tokorozawa, Saitama, Japan. It is home to the Saitama Seibu Lions, a professional baseball team. The stadium has a roof over the field and the stands, like other indoor ballparks. However, it lacks a wall behind the stands so that natural air comes into the field. This makes it possible for home runs to leave the stadium, something not possible in typical domed stadiums. The stadium was built in 1979 without the roof and named Seibu Lions Stadium (Seibu Raionzu Kyūjō) as the new home field of the Lions that moved from Fukuoka to Tokorozawa that year. Initially an open-air stadium, the installation of its roof took place in two phases: the first phase after the 1997 season, and the second phase after the 1998 seasons. At the beginning of the 1998 season, the stadium was renamed Seibu Dome although the domed roof had not been completed. Originally, the Lions had planned to build a new stadium in Odaiba, but due to requiring to get approval from the three other Tokyo-based teams at the time (the Nippon-Ham Fighters, the Yomiuri Giants, and the Yakult Swallows), opposition from local fans, and the cost to build a new stadium, they decided to just add a roof to the stadium. On March 1, 2005, the stadium was named Invoice Seibu Dome (SEIBU, Inboisu Seibu Dōmu) as Invoice Inc. bought

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.