Japanese organizers of the upcoming Asian Games confirmed Wednesday they’re holding “regular discussions” with Asian Olympic chiefs, after reports surfaced claiming they’d asked for the event’s swelling participant numbers to be scaled back.
The Asian Games, set for Nagoya and the wider Aichi area from September 19 to October 4, were originally expected to host around 15,000 athletes and officials. An Olympic Council of Asia press release last week put that figure closer to 17,000—11,000 athletes and 6,000 officials—a jump that’s put real pressure on accommodation planning, particularly given there’s no dedicated athletes’ village for this edition. Organizers are instead relying on a mix of a cruise ship, wooden shipping-container-style huts, and hotels to house everyone.
Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported that the local organizing committee had specifically asked the OCA to address the surge in numbers. When approached by AFP, the committee declined to detail those conversations directly, with a spokesperson offering only that they were “sharing information with the OCA, the event organizer, regarding the registration status of the various national teams, and are holding regular discussions with them regarding arrangements such as accommodation for the teams.” AFP has also reached out to the OCA for comment.
A Cruise Ship as Backup Plan for the Asian Games
The accommodation strategy itself is fairly unconventional. To cut costs, organizers chartered the Italian cruise ship Costa Serena, which will house between 4,000 and 5,000 athletes across its 571 cabins, alongside seven swimming pools, eight restaurants, and nine bars. Officials say they’re confident the arrangement won’t be disrupted by Japan’s typhoon season, which typically runs in full force through September and October—timing that overlaps almost entirely with the Games themselves.
A further 2,000 athletes and officials will be housed in wooden shipping-container-style huts in Nagoya’s Garden Pier area, with the remainder split across hotels, including in Tokyo, where swimming, diving, and equestrian events are scheduled to take place.
With the numbers already 2,000 higher than originally projected and discussions with the OCA still ongoing, how comfortably this patchwork housing plan actually holds up may become one of the more closely watched storylines heading into the Asian Games themselves.
