Toyota Serves Up Japan’s Largest All-weather Indoor Beach Volleyball Court

Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) announces completion of Japan’s largest all-weather beach volleyball facilities―including two indoor courts―at its Kinuura Plant (Hekinan City, Aichi Prefecture), home to Toyota’s corporate Beach Volleyball Team. A ceremony to celebrate the completion of the facilities is being held today.

Established in July 2015, “the Toyota Beach Volleyball Team is Japan’s first corporate team, and aims to promote the growth of competition and increase the appeal of the sport,” says Shunichi Kawai, general manager and coach of Toyota’s Beach Volleyball Team. “In the lead-up to the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, we are keen to energize Japan, starting in Aichi Prefecture, and from Hekinan City in particular. Using this outstanding environment allows us to practice no matter the weather, to produce athletes who have the ability to compete for podiums on the global stage, including the Olympic games.”

Toyota’s Beach Volleyball Team is one part of an effort to enhance company unity through corporate sports while cultivating closer relationships with local communities through sports and regional development activities. Beach Volleyball is popular around the world and is on the program at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. Fittingly, Toyota has its sights on energizing the country from Aichi Prefecture with the completion of its indoor volleyball court. Toyota also intends to collaborate with Hekinan City to further contribute to regional development by hosting competitions, inviting teams to training camps, and holding a variety of other events.

Toyota’s goals are twofold: to use sports to create a peaceful and discrimination-free society, and to use mobility to contribute to the realization of a sustainable society. To this end, in 2015 the company signed an agreement with the International Olympic Committee to become a Worldwide Olympic Partner, and with the International Paralympic Committee to become a Worldwide Paralympic Partner. Toyota wants to harness sport’s tremendous power to connect and energize people even in the face of overwhelming odds, thereby supporting the realization of an ever-better society.

Overview of the Kinuura Beach Volleyball facilities

The facilities have been cleverly designed to achieve high-added value¹. The two indoor courts, which can be used during winter and inclement weather, have been constructed with comprehensive energy-saving measures², and the design of the entire facility takes the surrounding environment into consideration³.

Indoor court

Steel-frame: two courts and clubhouse

Total building area: 1,365 m²

Total floor space: 1,469 m²

Outdoor court​

Two courts and covered athlete utility space

Total building area: 1,024 m²

Safety net: outer circumference of 120 m

^*1Cleverly-designed facilities with high-added value

• Flexible one-court or two-court layout options to accommodate a variety of eventsIndoor courts feature the look and feel of an outdoor match with use of windows on all four sides that allow natural lighting in addition to a white interior
• Indoor and outdoor courts are equipped with different types of sand, allowing practice in diverse environments
• Designed with potential for future expansion

^*2Comprehensive energy-saving measures

• Warm-water coils that heat the floors and indoor courts are the first in the world to use radiation panels
• Indoor courts utilize natural lighting
• High placement of windows facilitates optimal ventilation (based on simulations of wind patterns in all four seasons)
• Cascade air conditioning utilizes exhaust air from all rooms^*

  ^*Cascade air conditioning is a form of air conditioning in which cooled and heated air is taken from rooms and passed through non-air conditioned spaces, such as hallways, toilets, and warehouses, via bypass pipes before being dispelled outside.

^*3Consideration to the surrounding environment

• Use of sound-proof walls and safety nets
• Greening measures have been implemented to harmonize the facilities with the surrounding environment

The Toyota Beach Volleyball TeamEstablished: July 2015General Manager and Coach: Shunichi Kawai

Katsuhiro Shiratori

Member of the Japanese national team at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and the London 2012 Olympic Games

2002-2011: 10 consecutive victories at Beach Volleyball Japan2016/2017: Annual Champion of the Japan Beach Volleyball Tour2018: Winner of the JVA Cup

*Selected to represent Japan at the Asian Games 2018

Takemi Nishibori

2014: Second place on the FIVB World Tour (the highest ever ranking by a Japanese national)2017: Annual Champion of the Japan Beach Volleyball Tour2017: Winner of the 28th All-Japan Women’s Beach Volleyball Championships2018: Winner of the FIVB World Tour Manila Open 

Sayaka Mizoe

2014: Second place on the FIVB World Tour (the highest ever ranking by a Japanese national)
Four consecutive victories at the Japan Women’s Beach Volleyball Championships 2017: Winner of the Japan Beach Volleyball Tour Hiratsuka Tournament 2018: Winner of the FIVB World Tour Tuan Chau Open 2018: Runner-up at the Japan Beach Volleyball Tour Okinawa Tournament 

Marie Wada

Suzuka Hashimoto

2017: Winner of the Japan Beach Volleyball Tour Hiratsuka Tournament 2018: Winner of the FIVB World Tour Tuan Chau Open 2018: Runner-up at the Japan Beach Volleyball Tour Okinawa Tournament 

Yusuke Ishijima

2018: Winner of the FIVB World Tour Bangkok Open 2018: Runner-up at the Japan Beach Volleyball Tour Tokyo Tournament 

Ryo Shindo

2017: Third place at the Japan Beach Volleyball Tour Wakasa Obama Tournament 2018: Third place at the Japan Beach Volleyball Tour Okinawa and Tokyo Tournaments