The Japanese city of Nagoya and the wider Aichi area is preparing for the Asian Games, which take place from September 19 to October 4.
About 15,000 athletes and officials were initially expected, but the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) says that the number has already reached 17,000 – 11,000 athletes and 6,000 officials.
But despite the huge number of participants heading to Japan, there is no dedicated athletes’ village.
They will instead be housed on a cruise ship, temporary wooden containers, and hotels.
The accommodation challenge behind Nagoya’s Games
As the number of delegates soared, with the OCA adding teqball and padel to the sporting program in March, Nagoya mayor and acting chairman of the local organizing committee Ichiro Hirosawa said it was “difficult to accommodate” the number as the Games is “operating on a tight budget.”
Aichi Governor Hideaki Omura, meanwhile, said that the hosts had “neither the manpower nor the budget to make the necessary arrangements” for the influx of athletes, adding that they have not set aside a budget for more than 15,000 people.
“There is simply nowhere for them to stay. If they still wish to come, they will have to make their own arrangements,” he said.
The silver lining: All 17,000 have a place to stay.
On Friday, a joint statement from the organizing committee and the OCA said accommodation for all athletes was already settled.
“All the 17,000+ athletes and officials that are registered for the Asian Games before the closing of Entry by Name in July have been provided with Games-appropriate accommodation,” the statement said.
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Cruise ship becomes Nagoya’s biggest athletes’ village
Rather than constructing a new athletes’ village, organizers decided to hire an Italian cruise ship to serve as temporary accommodation.
The vessel will provide thousands of ready-made rooms in one location, helping organizers add capacity without building a large permanent residential complex.
Between 4,000 and 5,000 athletes are expected to stay aboard the ship.
The decision to use a cruise ship as accommodation keeps costs under control.
Temporary homes fill accommodation gap
Organizers said temporary accommodation made from wooden, shipping-container-style units will also provide lodging for roughly 2,000 athletes.
The rest of the athletes and officials will be accommodated in hotels in Nagoya, Aichi, and Tokyo, where some of the events will be held, including swimming, diving, and equestrian.
The unusual accommodation strategy reflects a broader decision by the organizers not to build a traditional athletes’ village.
Instead, Nagoya is creating a distributed accommodation system that mirrors the Games themselves, where participants and events are spread across multiple locations.
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Ciara Mina 
Jacinth Banite