About Four Thousand Asian Games Athletes Will Live on an Italian Cruise Ship Docked at Nagoya's Kinjo Pier
Organisers chose not to build a traditional athletes' village, and some delegations have complained about the container huts housing about 2,000 people.
The Italian cruise ship Costa Serena docked at Kinjo Pier in Nagoya on 15 September 2026 to serve as accommodation for about 4,000 athletes and officials at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, which open on 19 September.
The ship will stay in port for 22 days, until the Games end on 4 October, with about 1,500 cabins for participants, according to the Seoul Economic Daily. Organisers decided against building a traditional athletes' village and are spreading about 17,000 competitors and officials between hotels, the ship and shipping-container-style huts at the port.
Hideaki Ohmura, president of the organising committee, said it was the first time in Japan that such a facility had been used for accommodation at a major international sporting event. The ship's captain, Federico Sias, said it carried a message of unity and camaraderie within Asia, Onmanorama reported.
The arrangements have drawn complaints. South Korean basketball players criticised the size of beds in the container huts, which house about 2,000 people. Accommodation manager Yuta Matsuo told Reuters that organisers were aware of dissatisfaction and concerns voiced by delegations, and that a 24-hour resident centre would handle complaints. The Seoul Economic Daily reported that organisers were looking for more hotel rooms because registrations exceeded early projections.
Several hundred athletes were briefly evacuated because of torrential rain, according to Onmanorama, and more heavy rain is forecast in Nagoya during the Games period.