The Asian Games close in Nagoya; next stop, Doha

The 20th Asian Games came to an end on Sunday evening, October 4, 2026, with a closing ceremony at Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium in Japan. The Games had officially opened on September 19 under the slogan “Imagine One Asia”. To begin the ceremony, representatives of 45 countries and regions of Asia walked into the stadium, together with a Refugee Team.

Although Nagoya gave the Games part of their name, the competitions were held far beyond the city. The organizers listed 54 competition venues, and only 18 of them were in Nagoya itself. The others were spread across more than 20 cities and towns, mostly in Aichi Prefecture but also as far away as Osaka and Tokyo, where all the swimming races took place. Instead of building many new arenas, the organizers planned to use existing sports facilities and to add temporary ones only where necessary, in order to keep costs down.