A permanent pickleball court has been born at Tokyo's landmark, Tokyo Tower.On July 4, 2025, Minato-ku's first general-public permanent pickleball court opened on the rooftop (RF) of Tokyo Tower's Foot Town. As an urban facility where you can enjoy an urban sport combining elements of tennis, badminton, and table tennis high up away from the bustle below, it joined the ranks of new attractions.
Tokyo Tower's rooftop becomes a permanent court
The venue is the Foot Town rooftop floor of Tokyo Tower (4-2-8 Shibakoen, Minato-ku, Tokyo). Making use of the top of the complex at the tower's base, it was developed as a place where anyone can play casually. It is the first general-public permanent pickleball court in Minato-ku.
Operation is handled by the "Tokyo Tower Pickleball Friendship Executive Committee." The committee is made up of three companies -- Athlonia Inc., Tipness Inc., and YASU PROJECT Inc. -- with Masaharu Kobayashi as its representative. Reservations and inquiries are accepted on the official site (tokyotower-pickleball.jp).
Why "urban" is drawing attention now
Pickleball uses little space -- one court is about a quarter of a tennis court -- and is easy to set up indoors or outdoors. This characteristic is spurring the move to turn idle space in high-land-value city centers into playing venues. The Tokyo Tower case is a fine example of repurposing a symbolic place -- the rooftop of a tourist facility -- for the sport.
Pickleball is a sport born in the US in 1965, and its appeal is that it's easy to start regardless of age or exercise experience. It was selected 14th in Nikkei Trendy's "2025 Hit Predictions," and awareness in Japan is on the rise.
Facility overview
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Location | Tokyo Tower Foot Town RF (4-2-8 Shibakoen, Minato-ku, Tokyo) |
| Opening date | July 4, 2025 |
| Position | Minato-ku's first general-public permanent pickleball court |
| Operator | Tokyo Tower Pickleball Friendship Executive Committee (Athlonia / Tipness / YASU PROJECT) |
| Reservations and inquiries | Official site tokyotower-pickleball.jp |
A move that symbolizes the facility rush in the city center
In Tokyo, moves by hotels and commercial facilities to build new courts are coming one after another. Tokyo Tower's permanent court shows a new stage of this facility rush in that it turned a landmark itself into a place for the playing experience. The idea of connecting tourism and the sport also has a strong affinity with inbound demand.
Summary
The birth of a permanent court at a place everyone knows -- Tokyo Tower -- symbolizes pickleball drawing closer from a special sport to an everyday pastime. As more entry points like this appear -- where people visiting on a trip drop by and pick up a paddle -- the base of the sport widens further.
Related Articles
- Pickleball courts popping up at hotels and commercial facilities one after another—the full picture of the facility rush
- Japan's pickleball competitive population is 330,000, with 11.89 million potential
- Six courts, the most in western Japan, on a Sakai, Osaka hotel rooftop—turning lodging facilities into competition hubs
