Japan seeks to ramp up buzz with year to go

Japanese organisers admit public awareness of the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya “needs to be higher” as they look to ramp up interest with today marking a year to go until the start of the sporting spectacular.

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The pandemic-delayed 2023 edition in Hangzhou, China, featured about 12,000 athletes — the biggest Asian Games in history boasting more competitors than the Olympics.

Hosts Japan hope next year's event, when athletes will stay on a “floating village” cruise ship and in converted shipping containers, will make a similar splash.

Kazuhiro Yagi, vice-secretary general ofthe Aichi-Nagoya Games organising committee, told AFP that excitement was still muted but he is confident it will build over the coming 12 months.

“Public awareness of the Games needs to be higher,’ he said.

“It’s partly because they are still a year away and partly because international sporting events like the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics and the Fifa World Cup will be held before then.

“But we won't wait for these events to finish, we'll be proactive in getting the message out there,’ he added.