you thought you were ordering. There are also some
odd food combinations (I saw a curry on offer that
came with sausages, potatoes & sweetcorn) and an
interesting habit of topping a lot of things with an
egg. You can have a McDonalds or Subway if that’s
your bag, but much better fast food comes in the
form of Mos Burger and First Kitchen, which sells
everything from hotdogs to pasta.
I know, I know: get to the wrestling.
follow The Blue Pencils
Korakuen Hall is located on the fifth floor of a big blue
building, the cunningly named ‘Blue Building‘, in the
Tokyo Dome City complex. All parts of Tokyo Dome City
are helpfully pointed to by a series of giant coloured
pencils, each of which has the name of the building it
points to written on it in both Japanese and English.
For Korakuen Hall, follow the blue pencils.
The box office is right up there in the fifth floor with the
venue and is open between 10am and 7pm. They have
posters up for all upcoming shows and little books full
of the seating plans for the various events. When I
went, it was staffed by two jolly guys in their fifties
who spoke great English and I was able to sort out my
DG’s CIMA with a table
tickets for the Dragon Gate and All-Japan shows I
wanted to see that week.
Pricing in Korakuen is split roughly into four zones:
back of the lower tier (middle zone) and that was
ringside area (most expensive), middle zone, upper
Y5000 (£32). If those prices look high, all I can say is get
zone and the standing-only balcony (cheapest). As
used to it. Tokyo is an expensive city and remember, for
tempted as I was to go for the authentic Korakuen Hall
that money, you’re going to be seeing great wrestling
balcony experience, I opted for seats for both shows
in the Madison Square Garden of the East.
and I’m glad I did. My fourth row, West side seat for The Dragon Gate show was seriously one of the best
Dragon Gate fell in the highest price bracket and cost wrestling shows I’ve ever attended. The atmosphere
me Y7000 (approx. £43). For All-Japan, I was at the during the matches, especially the super-charged main
event pitting Shingo Takagi & YAMATO against Masaaki
Mochizuki & Katsuhiko Nakajima, was like nothing I’ve
ever experienced. The crowd bought into absolutely
everything and I could barely hear myself think during
the red-hot near-falls sprint towards the end.
The show was non-stop action from the first bell to the
last, the quality never dipped and I don’t think I’ve ever
seen a group of wrestlers work as hard as the Dragon
Gate crew on that night. Simply outstanding and if
they’re half as good as this, the Oxford show will be an
absolute treat.
All-Japan the next night was a different kettle of
sashimi. If the words ‘All-Japan Pro Wrestling‘for you
46 The online magazine for pro wrestling fans worldwide
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