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Akita Yatsuhashi Athletic Stadium

Aka: Soyu Stadium

Akita City, Akita Prefecture

Akita Stadium is the largest sports facility in the Tohoku region, with a capacity of around 20-25,000 (exact figures vary depending upon the source; the J.League puts it at 20,125, but a nationwide athletics meet in the 1990s supposedly drew 27,090 - the stadium record). Though not really the best venue for a football match, it is big enough to qualify for J1 status, and has hosted many Emperor's Cup matches over the years.

For the first two decades of J.League play, Akita Stadium hosted occasional J.League matches, played on the road to attract fans from the "wild north" to football. When Consadole Sapporo was a J1 team, they often played early season matches at Akita Stadium (where the snow is slightly less of a problem, early in the year). However, it was not until local club TDK set its sights on J.League promotion that Akita began to see high-level football on a regular basis.

As football gained popularity in the Tohoku region, TDK spun the team off as the fully independent Blaublitz Akita. The "Blue Lightning" managed to battle their way into the J.League in 2015, when the third division (J3) was created. Since then, Blaublitz has called Akita Yatsuhashi (now bearing the corporate branding name "Soyu Stadium") its home.