静岡県東伊豆町の温泉地・稲取に、コート20面という日本最大規模のピックルボール施設が誕生した。運営するのは伊豆アニマルキングダムなどを手がける株式会社伊豆バイオパーク。宿泊型リゾート「伊豆リゾートヴィラ」の敷地内に整備され、2026年7月20日にはグランドオープン式典が開かれた。首都圏から車で数時間、温泉とサウナを備えた宿泊施設に大量のコートが並ぶ構図は、日本のピックルボールがどこへ向かうのかを考える格好の材料になる。
施設の概要と立地
The facility stands at 3349-1 Inatori, Higashiizu, Kamo District, Shizuoka Prefecture, a resort on high ground looking out over Sagami Bay. It was already a mixed lodging complex with tennis courts, large public baths, a buffet restaurant and a cafe & books corner holding about 700 volumes. Twenty pickleball courts have now been added. The layout is mostly outdoor courts with indoor courts available in the rain, so play is less exposed to the weather. Court construction was handled by Toa Road Construction, a major paving contractor, and the technique it has built up surfacing sports facilities shows this is not a case of painting lines on vacant land. Inatori is a hot-spring town known for kinmedai and its hanging hina decorations, and a cluster of permanent, purpose-built courts there is enough to redraw the local tourist map.
Why a hot-spring resort laid out 20 courts
What makes this facility interesting is that it is not a pickleball specialist: an existing resort hotel has taken on a large bank of courts as an extension of its core business. The operator, Izu Biopark, is a tourism business known for Izu Animal Kingdom and lodgings where guests stay with capybaras, and Inatori sits in a hot-spring tourism area close to Shimoda and Kawazu. On the eastern coast of the Izu Peninsula, where the population keeps falling, accommodation businesses survive only by adding reasons to stay. Twenty courts means a scale that can take in a whole tournament or a training camp. You can see the aim of pairing a sport that does not work as a day trip with an overnight stay.
Pickleball uses light equipment, has simple rules, and can be enjoyed regardless of age or athletic background. It suits the middle-aged and family guests who stay in hot-spring towns, and needs neither the space nor the stamina tennis demands. Being easy to convert existing tennis courts and leisure facilities into is another reason resorts find it easy to enter. Since a single tennis court yields several pickleball courts, operators can also reshape underused assets into content with high utilization, a calculation they will not overlook.
施設の規模を数字で見る
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Number of courts | 20面(屋外主体+屋内あり) |
| Location | 3349-1 Inatori, Higashiizu, Kamo District, Shizuoka Prefecture |
| Operating company | Izu Biopark Co., Ltd. |
| Court construction | Toa Road Construction Co., Ltd. |
| Grand opening ceremony | July 20, 2026 |
| On-site facilities | Large public baths, sauna, tennis courts, buffet, lodging wings |
常設で20面という規模は国内で頭一つ抜けている。単発イベントではa taster festival in Hachioji with up to 24 courts, but that was a gathering that rented a venue temporarily. The weight of this project lies in securing 20 courts as a permanent facility usable every day. Looking overseas,a 10-court base in a residential area of Singaporeis the emblematic Southeast Asian case, and twice that number on a permanent basis gives a sense of the scale here.
グランドオープン式典と関係者
グランドオープン式典では、伊豆バイオパークの宮崎泰社長が開会の挨拶に立ち、東伊豆町の岩井茂樹町長が来賓として言葉を寄せた。日本ピックルボール協会は、この施設が地域の健康増進・スポーツ振興・観光促進に寄与するものと位置づけている。行政・運営・競技団体の三者が同じ方向を向いているのが、この案件の特徴だ。
The municipality's involvement matters. For Higashiizu, a town of about 10,000 people, drawing visitors around sport is a realistic local development strategy. The governing body, for its part, can extend the stage for growth beyond urban gymnasiums and clubs to permanent courts in a tourist area. An arrangement with no downside for any of the three helped push through a scale as bold as 20 courts. And since the operator ties together tourism assets such as a zoo and cruise boats, connecting pickleball to its existing visitor flow is a natural conclusion.
日本のピックルボール普及が「行き先」段階へ
What the 20 courts in Izu Inatori show is that pickleball in Japan is shifting from borrowing a corner of a gymnasium to becoming a destination in itself. Until now, large venues in Japan have mostly been lodgers inside public gyms or multi-sport racket complexes. At the foot of Mt. Fuji there isthe example of Fuji-Q folding pickleball into an all-weather racket facility, a sign that leisure capital is starting to treat the sport as a draw on the program. Izu Resort Villa takes that a step further, moving into a destination model that sells lodging, hot springs, meals and courts as one package.
From a player's point of view the meaning is plain. You can hit from morning to night, rest your body in the hot spring, and pick it up again the next morning, a stay that a day trip cannot deliver. It also means reproducing, in a sport with a far lower barrier to entry, the training-camp culture tennis and golf built over decades. Because the base of players is broad, stay-based demand involving families and seniors may grow even larger than tennis ever managed. Weekdays for seniors and local fitness, weekends for tournaments and camps, peak season for visitors trying the sport: splitting the customer base by day and hour is another strength only permanent courts allow.
業界への波及と施工品質の重要性
Now that a 20-court permanent precedent exists, moves to convert underused regional tennis courts and leisure facilities should pick up. That paving major Toa Road Construction handled the court surfacing is also worth noting. For civil engineering and paving contractors, pickleball courts could become a new line of orders, and guaranteed construction quality strengthens the case for attracting tournaments. Because the surface governs bounce and drainage, and therefore the quality of play, whether a specialist contractor is involved is the dividing line between a court for fun and a court that can host a tournament. If hot-spring towns and resorts around the country copy the same arrangement, the trio of construction, operation and municipal cooperation will settle in as a template. For the accommodation industry, courts are an attractive card, a new reason to stay that fills weekday and off-season troughs. Combined with existing hot springs and restaurants, there is room to lift spend per stay and repeat-night rates while holding additional investment down.
訪れる際の確認事項
The nearest station to Izu Resort Villa is Izu-Inatori on the Izukyu Line, about two to three hours by limited express from Tokyo. By car, the usual route runs from the Tomei or Shin-Tomei expressways via the Izu Jukan Expressway. Because the site is a resort complex built around overnight stays, check the official site in advance for lodging plans, court hours, how indoor and outdoor courts are allocated, and whether equipment rental is available. Large public baths, a sauna, tennis courts and a buffet are on site, so there is plenty to do beyond playing. For group bookings around a tournament or camp, ask early, including how the 20 courts would be divided. First-time visitors should also factor in sun and wind on the outdoor courts and the summer heat, which makes for a more comfortable stay.
Summary
伊豆稲取に生まれた20面のピックルボール施設は、単なる「日本最大」という記録ではなく、競技が観光や宿泊と結びついて地域の目的地になっていく流れの象徴だ。温泉地の宿がコートに賭けたこの一件は、全国の遊休施設やリゾートに対する一つの実験でもある。今後、同じ発想の拠点が各地に広がるかどうか、伊豆稲取の稼働状況が試金石になる。
