Big Wave Ice Rink
Every winter, between November and April the Olympic-sized swimming pool at ‘Big Wave’ in Ushita is drained and transformed into an ice rink.
There are entrance and rental fees, but the entrance fee is waived for kids under elementary school age and there is no charge to sit and watch from the stands.
There is a basic snack bar which offers udon noodles (¥300) and rice balls (¥100) and drink vending machines. It’s OK to take your own food and drink, but customers are asked to consume it in the snack area, and not on the rink or rinkside. The seem to give out figure skating skates as rentals, so ask if you would prefer hockey skates.
Gloves must be worn (available from a vending machine in the foyer).
Admission:
- Adults ¥1560 (Book of 11 tickets ¥15,600)
- Kids/Over 65s ¥930 (Book of 11 tickets ¥9,300)
Skate rental: ¥300 or ¥3000 for 11 rental tickets (up to 30cm)
Lockers ¥100
Opening hours:
Open late October to April (October 27 in 2018 and April 15 in 2019)
Open: 09:00-21:00
Closed: Tuesdays (except Tuesday December 25) , December 30-January 1
Closed:
Tuesdays and December 30-January 2
Sometimes closed for hockey or figure skating practice and tournaments.
PDFs of monthly schedules (in Japanese) can be downloaded here (basically, the white sections are when the rink is open to the public).
Parking
Available by the hour between the park and the Higashi-ku sports center (the ice rink is inside this building) or behind the building in an open field on busy weekends (¥1000 yen a day). Public transport is easy- 2 minutes walk from the Ushita Big Wave Mae Astram (Monorail) Station), and there is a bus stop in front of park as well as across the road in front of the Astram Line riverside exit.
View Big Wave 50m Pool and Ice Rink in a larger map
Address: 8-3 Ushita-shin-machi, Higashi-ku, Hiroshima-shi, Hiroshima-ken, 732-0068
Tel: 082-222-1860
URL: http://www.sports-or.city.hiroshima.jp/facilities/sogo-p [ja]
Related links
- GH Junior Big Wave Ice-Skating review
- Hiroshima Curling Association
- Hiroshima Collectors Ice Hockey Club
- Hiroshima Collectors Ice Hockey Club Facebook Page
Updated October 31, 2018