Nishikyogoku Stadium Guide Kyoto

Nishikyogoku Stadium, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture

Nishikyogoku Athletics Stadium (now Takebishi Stadium Kyoto; たけびしスタジアム京都 for sponsorship reasons) in southwest Kyoto City, western Japan is the former 20,588 capacity home of J.League club Kyoto Sanga before their move to the new 21,600 capacity soccer-specific Sanga Stadium by Kyocera in Kameoka.

History & Capacity

The 20,588 capacity stadium was built in the 1940s. Nishikyogoku was hindered as a soccer-specific ground by its 9-lane running track. Indeed, the ground was one of the most unpopular stadiums in the J.League for watching a game as spectators are far from the match action. The new Sanga Stadium opened in 2020 and is a beautiful sight.

Nishikyogoku dates from 1942 and was expanded and renovated in both 1985 and 1996 with new seating and the installation of the electronic scoreboard. The scoreboard was replaced in 2015 with a new LED/video capable device.

The venue staged one football match at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and has also hosted several international matches during the Kirin Cup and also the Japan v Costa Rica full international in 1995.

Nowadays with Sanga departed, the grass pitch is used mainly for high school and university football, rugby and occasionally American football events.

The entire sports complex also includes a baseball stadium, an auxillary athletics stadium with grass pitch and the fairly recent Kyoto Aquarena (opened 2002) with swimming pools and ice rinks.

Takebishi Stadium Kyoto. — The ground has nine lighting towers

Kyoto Sanga

In recent years Kyoto Sanga languished in J2 for a decade from 2011 to 2021 and the glory days under coach Gert Engels with a young Park Ji Sung (later of PSV and Manchester United fame), Daisuke Matsui and Teruaki Kurobe (62 goals in 138 games) in the team seemed long gone.

However, Sanga gained promotion to J1 for the 2022 season and managed to stay there for the 2023, 2024 and 2025 seasons. The team were particularly strong in 2025.

The club's sole major honor is the Emperor's Cup in 2002 during the Gert Engels' years. Sanga have also won the J2 title twice.

The club began as Kyoto Shiko Club in 1922 and did not start life as a company team. In fact, Sanga are the oldest club competing in the J.League. As Kyoto Purple Sanga, the club joined the former Japan Football League in 1993 and then the J.League in 1996. The club dropped 'Purple' from their name in 2007, though it remains as the color of the team's uniforms.

Besides the fondly-remembered German coach, Gert Engels, other foreign managers at the Kansai club include Dutchmen Hans Ooft and Pim Verbeek, who both had brief spells in Kyoto. South Korean Cho Kwi-jae has been in charge since 2021 and has been doing an excellent job.

The stadium in March 2026. — The stadium in March 2026

Access - Getting There

The ground is just three minutes on foot from Niskhikyogoku Station on the Hankyu Line between Kyoto and Osaka. To get there from Kyoto Station take the Karasuma subway line two stops north to Shijo and change to the Hankyu Line.

By bus from Kyoto Station take the Kyoto City Bus 73 from stop C5. Get off at Nishikyogoku Undo Koen-mae, from where it is a short walk.

To eat and drink near the station we recommend the cafe ROND.E.

Address: 32 Nishikyogokushinmei-cho, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto City, Kyoto 615-0864