Asian Games open in Japan for first time in 32 years as Aichi-Nagoya hosts 16-day competition

Asia's largest summer sports festival returned to Japan on Saturday for the first time in 32 years.

The 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games opened with a ceremony at Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium in Nagoya, kicking off 16 days of competition. South Korea has sent a delegation of 1,051 athletes across 41 sports, targeting at least 40 gold medals.

International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry, Olympic Council of Asia President Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani, Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako of Japan, and Aichi Prefecture Governor Omura Hideaki, who chairs the organizing committee, attended the ceremony.

Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Choi Hwi-young represented the South Korean government at the event. The Summer Asian Games are typically held every four years, but the previous edition — the 2022 Hangzhou Games — was delayed a year by the COVID-19 pandemic and held in 2023, so this edition comes just three years later.

Japan is hosting the Summer Asian Games for the third time in its history, following Tokyo in 1958 and Hiroshima in 1994.

Running through Oct. 4, the Games feature 469 gold medals across 43 sports and 71 disciplines. About 10,000 athletes from 45 National Olympic Committees affiliated with the OCA, along with a refugee team, are competing.

The Games' motto is "Imagine One Asia — Here, as One," with the English phrase calling for a unified vision of Asia and the Japanese portion conveying a sense of coming together in this place. The slogan emphasizes solidarity and harmony across the continent.

The opening ceremony, directed by Nagoya-born Tsutsumi Yukihiko, was built around the concept of "Harmonic Heartbeat," evoking unity between athletes and spectators and celebrating the diversity and solidarity of Asian nations. The main stage was constructed in the shape of a heart.

The ceremony began in earnest with a performance evoking a heartbeat — symbolizing excitement for the approaching Games — followed by a welcoming message.

Delegations entered in alphabetical order by English country name, with Afghanistan leading the procession. South Korea, listed as "Korea," entered 16th, between Kazakhstan and Kuwait. Table tennis star Shin Yu-bin and rower Kim Dong-yong served as flag bearers, leading the South Korean delegation.

North Korea's delegation entered eighth under the name "DPR Korea," the OCA refugee team entered 45th, and host nation Japan entered last as the 46th delegation.

After the parade of delegations, the Games were officially declared open and the OCA flag was raised, carried in by Japanese sports stars. A video then showcased landmarks and attractions across Nagoya and Aichi Prefecture, followed by performances celebrating Japanese traditional culture, technological and industrial achievement, and the spirit of the Asian Games.

The torch relay reached its climax with a flame lit separately in Tokyo and Hiroshima — hosts of the 1958 and 1994 Summer Asian Games, respectively — before being combined with a flame ignited at Nagoya Castle last month and carried to the stadium for the final leg.

The flame passed to the final torchbearer and lit the cauldron installed at the venue. The cauldron's design drew on the shape of a heart and the golden shachihoko — a mythical creature with a tiger's head and a fish's body, regarded as a guardian of Nagoya Castle — rendered in a symmetrical, metallic curved form.

On Sunday, the first day of medal competition, South Korea will chase gold in modern pentathlon and the newly introduced sport of teqball, among others. A men's basketball gold-medal match between South Korea and Japan tips off at 7:40 p.m.