Stand in the Roar at Paloma Mizuho Stadium
It is 18:00 on 19 September 2026 and the floodlights are on at Paloma Mizuho Stadium in Nagoya City Mizuho Park. Sixty thousand voices, a wall of drums, and the Opening Ceremony of the 20th Asian Games, Aichi-Nagoya 2026, underway. This is the night the city has been building toward since the bid was won, and you can be in the stands for it. Tickets for the Opening Ceremony run up to ¥60,000, and they require advance visitor registration plus ID verification at entry, so sort that before you fly.
The Games themselves run 19 September to 4 October 2026, though competition starts earlier: men's basketball preliminaries tip off on 10 September, with football preliminaries from around 14 September. Across 16 days of official competition, 43 sports, roughly 71 disciplines and about 469 medal events unfold across 54 competition venues in Nagoya and the wider Aichi Prefecture. The Closing Ceremony returns to Paloma Mizuho Stadium on 4 October at 18:00.
Chase the Sports You Cannot See at Home
The venue map is your itinerary. Athletics and the ceremonies anchor Mizuho Park. Basketball 5×5 plays at Aichi International Arena. Swimming is split between the Tokyo Aquatics Centre and ToBiO in Hamamatsu. Esports, with 11 medal events, takes over Aichi Sky Expo. Venue maps and sport-to-venue tables are published at aichi-nagoya2026.org/venues — build your schedule around them rather than around the city map, because Nagoya Station to a distant Aichi venue can take 45 to 90 minutes on a finals night.
- Book through the Official Ticket Shop linked from aichi-nagoya2026.org — it is first-come, first-served with no lottery since 30 June 2026, open to all nationalities, and non-transferable.
- If you are coming from overseas, the Asian Q Ticket, introduced 19 August 2026, lets you buy without Ouen-ID or Supporter ID registration.
- On a budget or short on time: the After 4 Ticket offers lower-priced timed entry from around ¥1,000, with entry from 16:00 for evening sessions.
- Tickets from unofficial channels are not accepted at venues. Use the official resale service, live since 4 August 2026, if you miss out.
- The City Ticket Office at Oasis 21 in Nagoya sells same-day paper tickets, but only from 20 August to 6 September — it closes before competition begins on 10 September.
Eat and Wander Between Sessions
Nagoya Station is your hub for JR and subway lines, and the city centre is where you will eat between sessions. Nagoya's own kitchen is a reward in itself: miso katsu, hitsumabushi, tebasaki, and the morning set at a kissaten. The source material does not name specific restaurants, so ask at your hotel or follow the crowds near Sakae and Oasis 21 — the City Ticket Office sits inside Oasis 21, which makes it a natural first stop on arrival. Late September and early October bring mild to warm days, so a light layer for evening outdoor sessions and a light rain layer are worth packing alongside an IC card, a portable charger, and your ticket QR code or wallet.
Plan Around the Crowds and the Calendar
Opening weekend and the final competition week are when Nagoya city-centre hotels and those near major venue clusters sell out. Book refundable rates early. Chubu Centrair Airport (NGO) is the primary gateway; long-haul itineraries often route through Tokyo (HND/NRT) and connect by Shinkansen to Nagoya. Session times can change — the schedule was revised on 19 August 2026 — so check the official competition schedule and ticket inventory before you lock in bookings. If your trip extends past the Closing Ceremony, the 5th Asian Para Games Aichi-Nagoya runs 18–24 October 2026 as a separate event with separate tickets and site.
Make Nagoya Your Base
Everything radiates from Nagoya Station, and the city rewards you for staying central: you can be at Mizuho Park for athletics in the morning and back in Sakae for dinner. The mascot HONOHON and the ONE ASIA WORLD fan experience give the Games a festival layer beyond the venues, and the city's markets, streets and kissaten fill the hours between sessions. Keep your days loose enough to follow a result you did not expect into a venue you had not planned to visit.
Start with the venue tables at aichi-nagoya2026.org, register for the tickets you want, and book a refundable room near Nagoya Station. The Opening Ceremony is 19 September 2026 at 18:00. The rest is yours to arrange.