Are you a roller skate fan in Tokyo? Want to enjoy inline or roller skates for relatively cheap, but don’t want to buy skates just for a couple of hours? Head to the Tokyo Dome Roller Skate Arena in Korakuen. Tokyo Dome Roller Skate Arena is one of the largest indoor roller-skate rinks in Tokyo. Short lessons are also provided by specialized instruction, so beginners are welcome too.
I discovered it by lucky walking on a Sunday morning around the Tokyo Dome area with a big LCD screen display showing the skate arena commercial. The Tokyo Dome rides are awesome, but I chose a relatively easier and fun activity of Roller Skates.
The Prism Hall at the Tokyo Dome is a 6 floor building with various activities. A bowling, 54 lane alley on the fifth floor, a space museum TeNQ on the 6th floor and the Roller x Skate Arena on the 4th. The operating hours are as below.
Weekdays | 11am to 10pm |
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Saturdays | 10am to 10pm |
Sundays and Holidays | 10am to 9pm |
The 4th floor entrance and the reception area. You can bring your own skates, the admission fees are as below for 2 hours.
Adult | Student* | Child | |
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Weekdays | 1,200 yen | 1,000 yen | 800 yen |
Weekends and Holidays | 1,500 yen | 1,200 yen | 1,000 yen |
An extension charge | 300yen/30min |
I was on the skate arena after 15 long years, so my situation was no different than the kid there trying to skate holding the railing on the side. Since I had no skates of my own, I got a 500 yen skate rental. The head gear and the other protective gear for free!
Since it was a weekend, most of the kids and their parents were around and the skating area was relatively busy busy. Kids have to be along with their parents or accompanied by some adult person.
Most of the good dads were helping their kids to learn the ropes, I had not come along with my daughter, else it could have been a similar picture for me. Getting some practice, I started going around and realised that although I have not done roller skates for over 15 years, the body still remembers the moves and in five minutes I was there without much support and enjoying the skates.
Still the pros are pros and were going past me with break neck speeds, my god I used to do this stuff in my young days…. I have gone a lot slower…. sucks.
So I had a great time at the roller skate arena. Here is a sample skating video….Nevertheless one snap for memory sake. a smiling me at the Tokyo Dome Roller Skate Arena. Awesome Sunday. I am going to come here again with my daughter next time….
Suhas
Manish
Ron Bragg
Manish