Asian Games 2026 Venues: Where India’s Biggest Medal Hopes Will Unfold in Japan

As India’s athletes arrive in Japan for the Asian Games 2026, they will not all be heading to the same city or even the same prefecture.

The Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, scheduled from September 19 to October 4, will stretch well beyond its principal host region, with competitions spread across 54 venues and five prefectures. More than 11,000 athletes from 45 countries are expected to compete across 43 sports and 469 events. For Indian fans, that means the Games will have several different addresses from Tokyo’s Olympic-era aquatic centre to Nagoya’s new arenas and specialised sporting facilities.

And some of these venues could become the backdrop to India's biggest moments of the Games.

The centrepiece of Aichi-Nagoya 2026 will be the Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium. Redeveloped ahead of the Games and reopened in April 2026, the stadium will host the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as athletics and the marathon. For Indian athletics fans, therefore, this will be one of the most important venues to watch.

The athletics programme will bring together Asia’s best track and field athletes, with India looking to build on the performances of its established stars and emerging medal contenders. Nearby, the Aichi International Arena, which opened in July 2025, will host basketball and judo. It is one of the newer facilities being introduced as part of the Games and represents the modern face of the tournament.

Tokyo Gets an Indian Spotlight

Perhaps the most interesting twist to the venue map is that some events will take place hundreds of kilometres away from Aichi. Swimming and diving will be staged at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, a venue Indian fans will remember from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. The centre was built for the Olympics and offers a 10-lane competition pool along with a 10,000-seat grandstand. This could be an important venue for India because the swimming programme runs from September 20 to 25.

For Indian swimmers, the familiar Olympic-era facility provides a high-quality environment in which to chase finals and, potentially, medals. Tokyo’s Equestrian Park will also host the equestrian disciplines. The venue has an even longer Olympic history, having hosted equestrian events at both the 1964 and 2020 Olympics. Track cycling will have another familiar Olympic setting, with the Izu Velodrome in Shizuoka hosting the competition. The venue was used for track cycling during Tokyo 2020 and will once again welcome Asia’s leading cyclists.

For India’s biggest medal sports, the venue allocation will be particularly significant. All seven badminton medal events will be held at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium. That means India’s badminton contingent will have a single venue for its entire medal programme rather than travelling between different locations. Given India’s strength in badminton, the venue could become one of the most closely followed locations among Indian supporters.

Hockey, meanwhile, moves to Gifu Prefectural Green Stadium in Kakamigahara, Gifu. The hockey pitches were upgraded in December 2025 ahead of the Games, adding another layer of preparation to a venue that will host one of India’s most closely watched team sports. Table tennis will be played at Sky Hall Toyota, while squash will take place at the Nagoya Kinjo-Futo Arena. Tennis and soft tennis will be held at the Nagoya City Higashiyama Park Tennis Center.

That creates an interesting cluster of venues for racquet-sport fans, with India expected to have medal ambitions across several of these disciplines.

Aichi-Nagoya will also introduce Indian athletes and fans to venues built or upgraded specifically for the Games. Cricket will be played at Korogi Athletic Park in Nisshin, where a natural-grass pitch has been developed for the men’s and women’s T20 competitions. Meanwhile, the Nagoya City Inae Sports Center will host mixed martial arts and wrestling, bringing two of India's major combat-sport disciplines under one roof.

Archery will be staged at Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park, while shooting will take place at the Aichi Prefectural General Shooting Gallery. Sailing heads to Kaiyoh Yacht Harbor and table tennis to Sky Hall Toyota. There is also a notable Olympic qualification angle. Seven sports archery, hockey, sailing, squash, surfing, tennis and triathlon will offer direct qualification quotas for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics. Six of those sports will feature Indian participation, with triathlon the only exception.

Aichi-Nagoya 2026 is therefore not going to feel like a traditional game centred around one compact sporting district. Aichi and Nagoya remain the heart of the event, but Tokyo, Shizuoka, Gifu and Osaka will also play their part. Football alone will be spread across seven stadiums in four prefectures, with the men's final scheduled for Toyota Stadium.

For India, that geographical spread means different athletes will experience very different environments. Some will compete in brand-new facilities. Others will walk into venues steeped in Olympic history. Some will chase medals in front of packed arenas, while others will compete at specialised outdoor venues.

But ultimately, the venues are only the backdrop.

From the swimming pool in Tokyo to the hockey pitch in Gifu, the wrestling mat in Nagoya to the badminton court in Ichinomiya, India’s Asian Games campaign will unfold across Japan, with every venue potentially becoming the setting for the next Indian sporting memory.