Japan to Host the 2026 Asian Games

Among the busy sport calendar for the Asian region, the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has named Japan to be the 2026 host of the 20th Asian Games. The council officially nominated the city of Nagoya in the Aichi Prefecture. The original announcement date was 2018, but the OCA President Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah wanted to ensure that there would be a stable rollout agenda for all the upcoming sporting events in Asia.

The Asian Games is a pancontinental multi-sport event that brings the region together to celebrate athletics and sportsmanship much in the spirit of the Olympic Games. It was first initiated in New Delhi in 1951 and has become the second largest sporting event after the Olympics. Not only does it host internationally common sports, but it also has region-specific sports such as sepaktakraw from Southeast Asia and kabbadi from India.

Aichi Prefecture governor Hideaki Ohumra and Nagoya city mayor Takashi Kawamura both vow that the event will be full of fun. Both men proclaimed that Japan’s economic stability along with the progressive technology advances all support Japan’s success. The projected cost to host the event is $800 million.

Japan also plans to host the 2019 World Rugby Cup, the 2017 Asian Winter Games, and the 2021 World Swimming Championships.

In addition to this event, Asia will be packed back-to-back hosting both Summer and Winter Olympic Games. The 2018 Winter Olympics will be in Pyeongchang, South Korea, 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, and 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China.

The international shift in focus towards Asia hosting more sporting events could possibly signal growing interest towards cultivating more athletic talent in Asia.