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Professor Layton's Puzzles Paid For This Stadium

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Well, it's name. Fans of professional American sports will be used to seeing stadiums named after companies. Insurance companies, banking companies, telecommunications companies. It's a shame, then, that unlike in Japan, none of them are named after video game developers.

Hakata no mori Stadium, in Fukuoka, has that honour, as since 2008 it's been known as "Level-5 Stadium", after the Japanese developers of hit franchises like Professor Layton, White Knight Chronicles and the upcoming Studio Ghibli collaboration Ni no Kuni bought the naming rights (in Yen, not matchsticks).

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It's an unusual step for a developer to take, even in Japan, but then, it makes a little more sense when you consider one of Level-5's biggest hits in its native country is Inazuma Eleven, an RPG series based on a youth football team.

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What's great about this isn't just the fact it's named after a beloved developer, but that it's not some jokey backwater ground. Level-5 Stadium may only seat 22,500 spectators, but it's the home ground of Avispa Fukuoka, a professional football team that will this season be playing in Japan's top flight after five years in the J-League's second division.

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Aside from Avispa Fukuoka matches, Level-5 Stadium has also played host to international football matches featuring the Japanese national side, as well as Rugby Union games.