From the Olympics to Tokyo's annual video game convention, Japan has a strong track record of hosting major international events. But this year's Asian Games in Nagoya and the wider Aichi Prefecture were marred by problems. There were diplomatic blunders, transport errors and accommodation chaos.
In comment fields online, some branded it the "worst Games in history" and urged a "full investigation". Prof Kozo Tomiyama, who studies major sporting events at Osaka University, believes organisers were unable to handle the unexpected. "If these problems damage international confidence in Japan's ability to operate sporting events, they could also affect Japan's ability to attract international competitions in the future," he warned.
The deputy director general of the Games, Takaaki Omi, admitted organisers had faced a range of unforeseen issues, but insisted they took on feedback and made improvements. Before the tournament had even begun, participants were complaining about too few rooms and poor-quality accommodation. Organisers had decided to forgo building a traditional athletes' village to cut costs, and were instead housing participants in hotels and container-style units across Nagoya.
A top Korean basketball official said tall athletes housed in the containers were struggling to "stretch their legs out on the beds". Last-minute additions to the total number of participants strained the city's capacity so much that an Italian cruise ship with 1,500 cabins was used to fill the gap. The organising committee had initially arranged accommodation for up to 15,000 delegation members "in accordance with the host city contract", Omi told the BBC.
But as other sports were added, the number grew by 2,000 to a total of 17,000. Organisers initially claimed there was "simply nowhere" to put up the late influx and told them to make their own arrangements - before backpedalling and releasing a joint statement with the Olympic Council of Asia promising that all "17,000-plus" guests would get "Games-appropriate accommodation". This was just the start of the problems.
Over the course of the Games, athletes were bussed to the wrong venues and the North Korean anthem was played for the South Korean men's hockey team. During the men's football gold medal ceremony, the South Korean flag was not raised properly. Taiwan's sports minister found himself temporarily barred from a flag-raising event.
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