Nissan Water Park

Beneath the east-gate stands of Nissan Stadium (日産スタジアム, officially the International Stadium Yokohama) — Japan’s largest stadium, host to the 2002 FIFA World Cup final and the 2019 Rugby World Cup final — sits something most visitors to the stadium never notice: a full heated water park, open to the public every day the stands above it are empty.

Why It’s Interesting

Nissan Water Park packs 22 pool facilities into the space under the stadium’s seating, split into two zones: the Aqua Zone, with a warm-water flowing pool and water slides, and the quieter Bade Zone, a set of jacuzzis for winding down. Because it’s fully heated and indoors, it runs through every season — rain, midwinter cold, or midsummer heat make no difference — which is unusual for a facility this size in Japan, where most water parks are open-air and summer-only. The novelty is really the location: swimming laps directly underneath the tier of seats where, on other days, tens of thousands of people watch football or rugby finals.

Best Time to Visit

Open essentially year-round with no closures at all in July and August, its busiest stretch. Outside peak summer, it closes most third Tuesdays of the month (staying open if that Tuesday happens to be a public holiday) plus the New Year holiday week, and adds a fourth-Tuesday closure from January through March. Weekday and Saturday hours run considerably longer than Sunday and holiday hours, so a weekday visit gives the most pool time for the money.

Getting There

It sits inside Shin-Yokohama Park, the sports complex around Nissan Stadium, roughly a 15-20 minute walk from either Kozukue Station or Shin-Yokohama Station on the JR Yokohama Line (Shin-Yokohama also connects to the Yokohama Municipal Subway and the Tokaido/Sanyo Shinkansen). Drivers can use the park’s shared paid parking, about 663 spaces shared with the stadium and its other sports facilities.