The M-Wave and the Olympic Museum
Named after the shape of its suspended roof, which represents the rugged peaks of Nagano’s mountain ranges, the M-Wave remains in use all year round and is also the home of the Nagano Olympic Museum.
The setting for the speed skating events at the Olympic Winter Games, it received the UK-based Institution of Structural Engineers’ special award for structural engineering excellence in February 1998. It was Japan’s first indoor ice rink with a standard 400m double track and also served as the venue for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Paralympic Winter Games Nagano 1998.
Since then, the M-Wave has staged a number of major sporting events, including the 2004 and 2014 ISU World Sprint Speed Skating Championships, the 2000 and 2008 ISU World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships, and the 2002 ISU World Figure Skating Championships. It is also a regular stop on the ISU Speed Skating World Cup schedule, hosting competitions most recently in November 2016 and December 2019. The venue for Japan’s Olympic speed skating trials, it is an important training facility for Japanese sport in general.
Open to the public from October to March, the arena attracts around 100,000 visits a year from recreational skaters. A multi-purpose facility with a variety of floor and stand layouts, it also hosts music and cultural events, as well as trade fairs and shows.
The Nagano Olympic Museum opened at the M-Wave shortly after the Winter Games and is one of 28 Olympic museums around the world. It welcomes visitors all year round, and its exhibits include a two-man sled used by Japan’s bobsleigh team at Nagano 1998, the torches carried in the Torch Relay, and the skates that home speed skater Hiroyasu Shimizu wore in winning the men’s 500m.