Differ Ariake

Former sports arena, and former home of Noah, based in the Ariake area of Tokyo (also famous for its special curry which was created to give to fans in 2001\2002 as at the time there were no convenience stores nearby, neither was the arena particularly easy to get to.)

Differ Ariake opened in July 1988, and was originally named "MZA Ariake", it functioned as a disco and a music venue. It bloomed in the bubble era, but due to the economical collapse in the late nineties it was renamed "Differ Ariake" and became a sports venue in 2000.

Noah set up base there in June 2000, installing their dojo and having their offices there (after Misawa's death a journalist who had known him well remembered breaking down at seeing his office, and everything being how he left it, almost as if he had simply stepped out and would be coming back soon). A lot of the talent that you see in Noah today where trained there (from the older "Misawa generation" including Eddie Edwards who attended with fellow classmate Go Shiozaki, to the younger such as Hitoshi Kumano who recalls being "the one who made a lot of noise" during training). Annually Noah held events such as "NOAHful Gift in Differ" where the wrestlers would hold a flea market, have their Christmas\New Year show, serve their own dojo recipe for chanko and other events. It was also here in "Noah's Spiritual Home" that the flower altars were set up for Mitsuharu Misawa after his death and subsequent years memorials. 

The venue was also used from the aesthetic such as kabuki performances (its raised walkway was ideal for this), to the modern as TV dramas and films came to shoot there.

Sadly Noah packed up their dojo and offices and moved out of Differ a few years ago (for a variety of reasons, partly due to the venue being sold and partly due to money issues), and the venue will close its doors in June 2018. The last event to be held there involving Noah was on the 28th November 2017 at the "DifferCup Memorial" (which was not won by Noah). On their last night there, a few of them wandered through the old building and saw sadly the empty spaces where the dojo and offices used to be and remembered old friends and faces now sadly gone. It was then time to eat the famous curry and then leave forever.

As of the time of writing it is not known what will become of the venue.