From September 19 to October 4, 2026, Japan will host the XX Asian Games — the largest multi-sport forum on the continent after the Olympics.
The center of the competitions will be Nagoya and Aichi Prefecture, but this will be much more than just a tournament between two cities: dozens of venues, around 15,000 athletes and officials, hundreds of medal events, and all of sports Asia in one calendar.
For Tajikistan, this Asian Games is particularly important: after a successful performance in Hangzhou, the country hopes to arrive in Japan with a large delegation and once again compete for medals.
According to official data from the organizers, the Games will last for 16 days, with the main stadium being the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium. The organization of the Asian Games 2026 is planned on a very large scale: the OCA and the organizing committee expect the participation of all 45 National Olympic Committees of Asia, with the total number of athletes and team officials potentially reaching 15,000 people.
Moreover, the Japanese side has already launched a ticketing program, indicating the transition of the tournament from the planning stage to the stage of real pre-competition preparation.
Asian Games Program
Previously, there was talk of 42 sports, however, the official Aichi-Nagoya 2026 website currently lists 41 sports. At the same time, the OCA and the organizing committee mention 460 medal events, and during the October briefing for the global press, the formula “41 sports, 68 disciplines, 460 events” was presented.
It is likely that the confusion arises from the official inclusion of padel as a medal sport in March 2026, and different sources are calculating the structure of the program differently. For practical understanding, the main point is this: the Asian Games in Japan will be huge both in terms of the variety of disciplines and the number of medal sets.
The program of the Games reflects the current philosophy of the Asian Games: it is a mix of Olympic classics and distinctly Asian characteristics. According to the organizing committee’s materials, it is based on 32 sports from the Paris 2024 program, five sports particularly characteristic of different regions of Asia, as well as disciplines proposed by the organizers and the OCA.
The list includes athletics, swimming, boxing, wrestling, judo, taekwondo, archery, basketball, and rowing, but alongside them are jiu-jitsu, kurash, MMA, kabaddi, cricket, sepak takraw, esports, and now padel as well. This is what makes the Asian Games special: here, not only Olympic stars meet, but also sports that have their own tradition on the continent.
Where the Asian Games Will Take Place
The geography of the tournament will also be unusual. Although the Games are named Aichi-Nagoya, the competitions will be distributed across 53 venues, some of which are located outside of Nagoya itself. For example, swimming and diving will take place at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, artistic swimming will be held in Hamamatsu, and equestrian events, according to the international federation, will take place at Tokyo’s JRA Equestrian Park.
Moreover, as emphasized by the OCA at the global press briefing, about 80 percent of the venues are located within a 50-kilometer radius of the main media center, meaning the logistics are designed to be compact for a tournament of such scale.
Another important feature of the upcoming Asian Games is Japan’s attempt to make it not only a sporting event but also a major public event. The organizing committee is already promoting a cultural program, separate tourist and volunteer initiatives, and the slogan “Imagine One Asia” emphasizes that the Games should function not only as a competition but also as a platform for Asian unity.
For Japan, this is particularly symbolic: the country will host the Asian Games for the first time since 1994, and Nagoya becomes the third Japanese city to host after Tokyo and Hiroshima.
Tajikistan’s Benchmark
For Tajikistan, the Asian Games 2026 looks not just like another trip but a logical continuation of a successful cycle. At the last Games in Hangzhou, Tajik athletes won seven medals — two gold, one silver, and four bronze.
The champions were boxer Davlat Boltaev and judoka Somon Mahmadbekov, silver was taken by Temur Rahimov, while bronze medalists included Bekhruzi Khojazoda, Midjgon Samadov, as well as Khairandesh Murodzoda and Haknazar Nazarov. This result was one of the best for the country at the Asian Games in recent years and automatically raised the benchmark ahead of the trip to Japan.
Tajikistan will traditionally be represented in water sports, archery, athletics, boxing, kayaking and canoeing, as well as a wide range of martial arts — from judo and karate to kurash, jiu-jitsu, MMA, taekwondo, wrestling, and wushu.
At the same time, Japan promises an Asian Games where the level of competition will be almost Olympic. Unlike many continental games, here, in the same brackets and finals, top Asian schools in boxing, judo, wrestling, taekwondo, swimming, gymnastics, shooting, and team sports will meet.
For Tajikistan, this is both a chance and a challenge: success in Nagoya will mean not just a medal at a regional tournament, but a confirmation of competitiveness at the level of all Asian sports, where the density of elite athletes is often higher than on other continents.
