Every four years, Asia’s biggest multi-sport event brings together thousands of athletes from across the continent. In 2026 it lands in Japan, close enough to India for a realistic trip. India goes in on the back of its best ever medal haul. Japan is not a cheap country, though, and how you carry your money decides how much of the fortnight you enjoy.
The 2026 Asian Games run from 19 September to 4 October in Aichi and Nagoya, Japan, with 43 sports staged across 53 venues. Indian fans need a Japan tourist visa, which costs ₹1,300 in total including the VFS service charge, and should carry yen on a forex card loaded with the JPY wallet.
This guide covers the history of the Games, the key facts and schedule for 2026, how Indian fans plan the trip, the Japan visa position, and the smartest way to carry yen.
A Short History of the Asian Games
The Asian Games began in New Delhi in 1951, with 11 nations and 489 athletes. India was the first host, and India hosted again in 1982, also in Delhi.
Japan has staged the Games twice before, in Tokyo in 1958 and Hiroshima in 1994. The Olympic Council of Asia runs the event today. The last edition was branded Hangzhou 2022 but held in 2023, after a pandemic delay. Aichi-Nagoya puts the Games back on a four year cycle.
The Key Facts for Asian Games 2026
This is the 20th edition, held across Aichi Prefecture with Nagoya at its centre. The motto is Imagine One Asia. Around 45 countries and regions take part in 43 sports and 71 disciplines, across 469 medal events. Up to 15,000 athletes and team officials are expected.
Venues are spread wider than the name suggests. The official list runs to 53, most of them in Aichi. A few sit much further out. Swimming and diving are at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, track cycling at the Izu Velodrome in Shizuoka, and hockey in Gifu. Never assume a session is in Nagoya just because the Games carry the city’s name.
Nagoya City Mizuho Park Athletic Stadium, also known as Paloma Mizuho Stadium, hosts the opening and closing ceremonies. The Asian Para Games follow in the same region from 18 to 24 October 2026, the first time Japan has hosted them.
The Schedule Detail Most Fans Miss
The official window is 19 September to 4 October, but competition begins as early as 10 September. That is nine days before the opening ceremony. Those early sessions are group and preliminary rounds in the long team events, such as basketball, volleyball and hockey, so the finals still land inside the official window.
Badminton is set for Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium. Athletics sits mid programme, from 23 to 29 September. Track and field and the marathon both centre on Paloma Mizuho Stadium, while the race walks use a loop course around the Aichi Prefectural Government Office and Nagoya City Hall.
Organisers have revised the programme once already, and parts of the daily schedule still read as to be announced. Check the latest session timings before you book anything non refundable.
Why This Edition Matters for Indian Fans
India arrives with real expectations. At Hangzhou 2023 the country won 107 medals, its best ever return, including 28 golds.
Several big names are confirmed. Manu Bhaker leads the shooting squad, with PV Sindhu in badminton, Lovlina Borgohain in boxing, and Aman Sehrawat in wrestling. Hockey carries extra weight this time, because the winners of the men’s and women’s tournaments qualify directly for the 2028 Olympics.
Cricket is the other big draw. Both tournaments are played as T20 internationals at Korogi Athletic Park in Nisshin, Aichi Prefecture, and India defend gold in both. The women’s event runs from 17 to 22 September, two days ahead of the opening ceremony, and the men’s from 24 September to 3 October. Harmanpreet Kaur leads the women’s side and Shreyas Iyer the men’s, with teenage batter Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in the squad.
How Indian Fans Should Plan the Trip
Nagoya is served by Chubu Centrair International Airport, usually reached from India with one stop through a Gulf or Southeast Asian hub. Flying into Tokyo and taking the Shinkansen is the common alternative. The fastest trains do that run in under two hours.
Base yourself in Nagoya if most of your tickets are at city venues. An IC card such as Suica or Pasmo works on trains, buses, and in convenience stores, so you are not buying a ticket each time.
Tickets are sold through the official Games channels, and general sales include overseas buyers. Book sessions before flights. A Tokyo venue on the same day as a Nagoya one makes for a long and costly morning.
Visa Requirements for Indian Visitors
Indian passport holders need a visa for Japan. There is no visa on arrival, and no visa free entry.
The good news is the cost. The Embassy of Japan charges ₹500 for a single or multiple entry visa, and VFS Global adds a service charge of ₹800, so ₹1,300 covers a standard application. India is also on the Japan eVISA list for single entry tourism. Applications still go through the VFS run visa centres, but the visa is issued electronically rather than as a sticker. Courier return and other add on services cost extra.
Processing generally takes at least five working days, and longer when application volumes are high. Applications are accepted up to three months before travel. Peak season stretches this, so apply four to eight weeks ahead rather than in the final fortnight.
The Currency Question: How to Carry Yen
Japan uses the yen, and one yen was worth about ₹0.60 in mid August 2026. That makes ¥1,000 roughly ₹600, a useful sum to keep in your head at a food stall. There are three ways to carry money, and they are not equal.
1. Indian Credit and Debit Cards
Swipe an Indian card in Japan and the bill is converted at the network rate. Your bank then adds a forex markup of about 2 to 3.5 percent, plus 18 percent GST on that markup. Card networks add a cross currency charge too. ATM withdrawals cost more again.
2. Cash From Airport Counters
Airport counters are among the least competitive places to buy currency, in Delhi as much as in Nagoya. The spread is built into the board rate. Buy in India instead, at a live rate, from a regulated dealer with doorstep delivery.
3. A Forex Card Loaded With Yen
A forex card loaded with JPY locks the rate on the day you load it, and spending from the yen wallet avoids the cross currency fee entirely. The BookMyForex multi-currency forex card holds yen among its 14 currencies, with zero issuance, reload, or annual fees. Load the yen wallet, not dollars, because spending in a currency you have not loaded triggers a cross currency fee of 3.5 percent plus GST.
Carry some cash as backup. Japan has moved fast on card acceptance, but smaller restaurants, shrines, local transport, and some machines may still want notes and coins.
Where to Check the Real Cost
Counter rates rarely show how they compare with the live interbank benchmark, and that gap is where the cost hides. The BookMyForex JPY to INR converter shows the live yen rate through the day.
Check it before you buy, then compare it with the airport quote and your card’s likely markup. Sort the visa early, plan around venue locations, load yen at a fair rate, and Nagoya delivers without the budget leaking away.
About the Author
Kshitij Pandey is the Content Manager at BookMyForex with over 7 years of experience in content marketing, blogging, and social media strategy. He has worked extensively on building engaging campaigns and informative resources that help users understand forex, international money transfers, and travel-related financial services.
