The Asian Games begin in Japan!
Where’s the bus?
We have practice!
With no bus arriving, the team had to cancel their practice.
No practice today… I guess we just wait for the game.
And, coincidentally, Korea was playing host nation Japan that very day.
The 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games are underway in Japan, but the competition itself is sharing attention with a growing list of operational problems. There is no traditional athletes’ village. Some participants are staying in temporary container-style accommodation, thousands are living on a cruise ship, and delegations have reported room shortages, long transfers, erratic shuttle services and other logistical problems.
An Asian Games Without a Traditional Athletes’ Village
One of the most unusual features of the Games is the decision not to build a conventional athletes’ village. Organizers instead created a distributed accommodation system using hotels, the Costa Serena cruise ship and temporary wooden container-style units. The model was intended to reduce costs and avoid leaving behind an expensive complex with little use after the Games. More than 17,000 athletes and officials registered for the Games, putting additional pressure on the housing plan.
Yes, Athletes Are Staying in Container-Style Units
The temporary accommodation at Nagoya’s Garden Pier is not just a concept on paper. About 2,000 athletes and officials are being housed in the wooden container-style units. The facilities were promoted as a practical and more sustainable alternative to permanent construction, but complaints emerged over cramped rooms, bed sizes and the quality of some facilities.
The idea itself is not necessarily the problem. Temporary accommodation can reduce construction costs and post-event waste. But once the traditional village is removed, room allocation, transport and day-to-day coordination have to work with far greater precision.
A Cruise Ship Became a Floating Athletes’ Village
The Costa Serena, a 290-meter cruise ship moored at Nagoya Port, is another major part of the accommodation plan. Thousands of athletes and officials are staying aboard the ship. The unusual arrangement offers a ready-made supply of rooms without constructing a permanent village.
But the boarding process also produced complaints. Organizers acknowledged confusion involving some delegations while disputing claims that the accommodation system itself caused the delays. AINAGOC said incomplete documentation submitted by some delegations was the primary reason for some boarding delays and said it was working with Costa Cruises and JTB to address the situation.
Thailand Called It “Musical Chairs”
The complaints are not limited to South Korea. Thailand’s Olympic officials said the number of available rooms did not match the number of athletes. On one peak day, Thailand said it needed 201 cruise-ship beds but received only 170. Athletes whose names were missing from accommodation lists had to be moved elsewhere, sometimes forcing earlier arrivals to move again. A Thai official compared the situation to a chaotic game of “musical chairs”.
Thailand also said some medical staff had to stay about 90 minutes from Nagoya and that the delegation rented additional vehicles from Tokyo to support its athletes.
India, the Philippines and Chinese Taipei Faced Problems Too
Other delegations have also had to adapt. India arranged alternative accommodation for some team members, while reports described lengthy waits and difficult transfers for athletes. The Philippines said its athletes had beds, but some coaches and officials had to move to other hotels or Airbnb accommodation. Chinese Taipei prepared for shortages by booking 100 additional hotel rooms and later described transportation schedules changing at short notice. AFP reported complaints from multiple teams about both accommodation and transport.
When the Bus Does Not Arrive
A distributed accommodation model makes transportation critical. Athletes are moving between hotels, temporary housing, training facilities and competition venues, so shuttle services effectively become the corridors of a decentralized athletes’ village.
South Korea’s men’s basketball team experienced the problem directly. On the morning of the final against host Japan, the team waited for a scheduled shuttle to take the players to a shootaround. The bus did not arrive and the practice was canceled. AFP has also reported buses arriving late or failing to appear for competitors from other delegations.
Then the Wrong National Anthem Was Played
The operational controversy has extended beyond accommodation and transportation. Before a South Korean men’s hockey match against Bangladesh, North Korea’s national anthem was mistakenly played instead of South Korea’s. The organizing committee later apologized for the anthem error.
Any one of these incidents could be dismissed as an isolated mistake. Together, however, problems involving rooms, cruise-ship boarding, transportation and competition operations have put the Games’ management under much greater scrutiny.
FAQ
1. Why is Japan, a country widely regarded as highly developed, struggling this badly?
Japan’s national infrastructure and the management of one sporting event are different issues. These Games adopted an unusually decentralized, cost-conscious accommodation model. The absence of a traditional village means housing assignments and transportation have to be coordinated across many separate locations while serving more than 17,000 athletes and officials.
+ The model can reduce construction costs and the risk of leaving an expensive, underused athletes’ village after the event.
− A fragmented system is harder to coordinate, and failures in housing or transport can directly disrupt athletes’ preparation.
2. Are athletes really sleeping in container-style accommodation?
Yes. Around 2,000 athletes and officials are using temporary wooden container-style units at Garden Pier, alongside hotels and the cruise ship.
+ Temporary facilities can reduce permanent construction and post-event waste.
− Limited space and facility-quality problems can affect comfort and preparation during a major competition.
3. Was South Korea the only delegation affected?
No. Thailand, India, the Philippines and Chinese Taipei are among the delegations that have publicly dealt with accommodation or transportation difficulties. The evidence points to a broader logistical problem rather than a dispute involving only South Korea.
4. What have the organizers said?
Organizers say they are responding to complaints and improving services. They have defended the basic accommodation concept as a cost-conscious and sustainable alternative to building a conventional village. They have also said some specific problems had causes outside the accommodation system itself, including incomplete delegation documentation during cruise-ship boarding.
The Games Are Still Underway
The Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games continue until October 4, so this is a developing story rather than a final judgment on the event.
The experiment itself is significant. A future international sporting event does not necessarily need to build an enormous permanent village. Hotels, modular accommodation and even a cruise ship can form part of a lower-cost model.
But that model only works if athletes can focus on competition without worrying about where they will sleep, how long it will take to reach training, or whether their bus will arrive.
The final assessment of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games is still being written.