Asian Games 2026 Tickets: How to Buy From Overseas

Nearly everyone who lands on my Asian Games guide from a search engine is asking the same narrow question: can I still get a ticket, and how do I actually buy one from abroad? The general guide answers that somewhere in the middle of a long article about hotels and subway lines. This page does nothing else.

I have rechecked every figure here against the organizing committee’s own pages, in Japanese and English, on August 20, 2026. The ticketing situation has moved fast: an official resale service opened in early August, and between August 18 and August 20 the organizers added three entirely new ways to buy — including one that needs no account at all, and a walk-in counter in central Nagoya. Most English-language coverage has not caught up.

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Table of Contents

1. Are Tickets Still Available?
2. New Since August 19: Three More Ways to Buy
3. Before You Buy: The Ouen-ID
4. Where to Buy: Official Site and Three Authorized Agencies
5. What Tickets Cost
6. Opening and Closing Ceremonies: Mandatory Advance Registration
7. “Currently Unavailable” Is Not Sold Out
8. The Official Resale Service
9. Why Unofficial Resale Will Not Get You In
10. Receiving Your Ticket, and the Phone Problem
11. The August 19 Schedule Change and Cancelled Sessions
12. The Date Trap: Competition Starts Before the Ceremony
13. Frequently Asked Questions
14. About the Author
15. Related Guides

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Are Tickets Still Available?

Not for the Asian Games any more. The Games closed on October 4, 2026. There was no lottery and no application window: general sale opened at 5:00 p.m. on June 30, 2026 and continued until the day of each session, on a first-come, first-served basis [Source]. If you are looking for Asian Para Games tickets (October 18 to 24, 2026), see our Asian Para Games 2026 guide.

The earlier presale rounds — the regional priority sale and the second advance sale — closed back in March; general sale was the main channel.

Living outside Japan was not a barrier. The official English ticket page stated the eligibility for general sales as “No restrictions (including international sales)” [Source]. That is an unusually clear statement for a Japanese sporting event, and it is worth knowing because plenty of large events here do restrict sales to domestic addresses.

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New Since August 19: Three More Ways to Buy

Between August 18 and August 20, 2026 the organizers opened three sales routes that did not exist when most English guides to these Games were written. All three are official [Source] [Source] [Source].

Asian Q Ticket — no account needed

Sales opened at 10:00 a.m. on August 19, 2026. The organizers describe it as a new service that lets you buy without registering an ID, and it ran right up to 90 minutes before a session was scheduled to finish [Source]. For anyone who has bounced off the Supporter ID registration screen, this was the single most useful change of the summer.

The conditions were narrow, though.

• Unreserved seating only, sold first come, first served.
• General, child and disability tickets only. Wheelchair spaces and Heartful tickets are not sold through it.
• Payment is Apple Pay or Google Pay. Delivery is an electronic ticket.
• Booking and system fees are charged on top of the ticket price.
• It is sold on a separate site, quick.pia.jp/aichi-nagoya2026_en/. The URL suggests an English interface, but I have not been able to confirm that the checkout itself is in English, so do not plan on it being an English-language route.

Which sports and sessions are covered is set out in the official ticketing guide rather than in the announcement [Source]. One thing worth saying plainly: what is documented is the 90-minute cut-off, not a promise that seats will be there. Since September 2, 2026 the organizers do use the phrase “same-day ticket” — once competition started they were to sell on the day at eight venues, with a ticket box at every venue to help buyers on their own phones — but that still only worked while seats remained. [Source]

After 4 Ticket — a cheaper way into the late session

Sales opened at 5:00 p.m. on August 19, 2026. It is a time-restricted ticket that admits you from 4:00 p.m. onward, created to put seats freed up by morning invitational programmes back into public hands. Prices run ¥1,500 to ¥6,500, and it covers 11 Asian Games sports (four at the Asian Para Games) [Source].

Two things separate it from the Asian Q Ticket: a Supporter ID is required, and payment is by credit or debit card or Google Pay. Convenience store payment was an option at launch, but the organizers ended it across the official sales site at 17:00 on September 2, 2026 [Source]. Delivery is electronic only, and like the Asian Q Ticket it is sold until 90 minutes before a session is due to end. I am not listing the eleven sports here, because the Japanese and English announcements do not agree on the per-sport match counts.

City Ticket Office at Oasis 21 — a counter you can walk up to

This is the one that matters most if you are put off by online registration, digital tickets or a card-only checkout. A temporary ticket counter ran inside the Oasis 21 i Center tourist information office in Sakae, at B1F Oasis 21, 1-11-1 Higashisakura, Higashi-ku, Nagoya [Source].

• Sells tickets for all Asian Games sports, and Asian Para Games sessions, subject to stock. The official notice warns that some sports or sessions may already be sold out.
• Cash and credit cards accepted.
• You are issued a physical paper ticket on the spot. It is not the only way to get paper — agency purchases are issued at convenience store counters — and the official notice for the Ticket Center that opened on September 9 does not say what format it issues.
• No resale transactions are handled here.
• The official notice does not say whether staff can serve you in English, so I am not going to promise that they can. Oasis 21 i Center is the city tourist information office, which is a reasonable sign, but that is inference, not a published fact.

One small thing that will confuse you if you go looking: the announcement was published on August 18 and the counter opened on August 20, and different official pages lead with different dates.

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Same-Day Tickets, Confirmed on September 2

On September 2, 2026 the organizers published it plainly: if seats remain, you can buy on the day and walk in [Source]. Three things came with it.

• On-site same-day sales at eight venues. Nagoya Mizuho Park Track and Field Stadium (track and field), Nagoya Mizuho Park Rugby Stadium (soccer), Aichi International Arena (basketball, judo), Ogasayama General Sports Park Ecopa Stadium (soccer), Nagai Athletic Stadium (soccer), Toyota Stadium (soccer), Okazaki Central General Park Baseball Stadium (baseball) and Toyohashi Municipal Baseball Stadium (baseball).
• A ticket box at every venue. Staff there help you buy on your own phone or laptop rather than selling to you directly.
• Sales hours. From 90 minutes before a session is due to start until 90 minutes before it is due to end — you can buy after play has begun. Only the seat categories still unsold at that moment are offered, and they can run out.

The organizers also opened a second walk-in counter, the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Ticket Center at 3-5-10 Sakae, Naka-ku — right by Exit 15 of Sakae subway station, next to Sakae Mitsukoshi. It runs September 9 to October 4 and October 15 to 24, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. daily, and sells tickets for every sport in the Games, subject to stock [Source]. The second window, October 15 to 24, overlaps the Asian Para Games, which run October 18 to 24.

The August 19 Schedule Change and Cancelled Sessions

On August 19, 2026 the organizing committee reissued the competition schedule. The competition programme, the daily schedule and the session schedule were all republished, together with a summary of what moved [Source]. This was the second such revision since late July.

The part that costs money: some sessions were cancelled outright rather than moved, and those are refunded. The official notice states that, following the schedule change, a number of sessions were cancelled because of changes to the competition content, and that those sessions are subject to refund [Source]. Eight sessions were affected, across handball, weightlifting and water polo. Refunds are processed after the Games have finished, and the organizers say they will contact affected buyers at their registered email address.

Separately, at 5:00 p.m. on August 19 the organizers put more tickets on sale for the opening and closing ceremonies, athletics, shooting, table tennis, badminton, volleyball and artistic swimming, as venue seat counts were finalized — and they say every session was included, even those showing as unavailable [Source].

If you held a ticket for one of the cancelled sessions, make sure the email address on your account is one you actually read, since that is where the organizers say they will contact affected buyers about the refund. Everything in this section is as of August 19 to 20, 2026.

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Before You Buy: The Ouen-ID

For the main sales channel, you cannot buy anything on the official site without registering first. The account is called an Ouen-ID — the official English pages also refer to it as a Supporter ID — and you must register before you can buy [Source]. Since August 19, 2026 that is no longer universal: the Asian Q Ticket is sold without it, while general sales and the After 4 Ticket still require it.

The buying flow was:

1. Register the Ouen-ID (required for general sales and the After 4 Ticket; not required for the Asian Q Ticket)
2. Go to the official ticket sales site
3. Choose your sport and session
4. Choose your seat category and quantity
5. Pay
6. Receive the ticket

At busy times the sales site puts you through a virtual waiting room before you reach the seat selection. That is normal, not a fault. Do not refresh.

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Where to Buy: Official Site and Three Authorized Agencies

The official ticket sales site is generalsale.tickets-aichi-nagoya2026.org. The easier starting point is the official ticket information site at lp-ag.tickets-aichi-nagoya2026.org, which has an English version and gathers the guidance in one place.

Beyond the official site, the organizers name three authorized ticket agencies (the Japanese term is play guide): Ticket Pia, TBS Tickets and CBC Ticket Center. Which sports each one sells varies, and each requires its own separate membership registration [Source]. Two warnings the official list does not carry. Sales windows differ by agency, and CBC Ticket Center has already stopped selling — its own page now says so [Source]. That page also states that purchases there are limited to residents of Japan, so from abroad the official site remains the route to use.

There is also a package-tour route. The official site lists Tobu Top Tours and JTB as handling official spectator tours that bundle tickets with accommodation and transport [Source]. Two caveats: Tobu Top Tours states its desk handles group travel only, and noted as of July 2 that its group allocation was already gone. JTB lists both a corporate desk and an individual-traveler product. I have not been able to confirm whether either sells to buyers outside Japan in English, so treat these as leads to check rather than a recommendation.

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What Tickets Cost

Seats come in five categories: AA, A, B, C and D, though the opening and closing ceremonies use only A to D. There are also child prices, disability prices, wheelchair spaces, and a “Heartful” category for people aged 65 and over or for people with a disability traveling with family [Source].

The headline number for the opening ceremony was ¥60,000, which is genuinely expensive. A category D seat at the same ceremony was ¥7,500, and a child ticket was ¥4,000.

I am not reproducing the full sport-by-sport price table. The Japanese sport labels in the official PDF cannot be extracted reliably, and transcribing them by eye risks attaching the wrong price to the wrong sport — which, for a page whose entire job is to be accurate about prices, would be the worst possible error. For exact prices by sport, use the official ticketing guide.

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Opening and Closing Ceremonies: Mandatory Advance Registration

For the opening and closing ceremonies, buying a ticket was only half the job. The organizers required every ceremony spectator to register their details in advance and to verify their identity at the gate, and they put it plainly: if registration is not completed by the deadline, or your identity cannot be confirmed at the venue, entry will be refused [Source]. Registration opened on August 21, 2026. This applied to the two ceremonies only, not to sport sessions. Everything below is as of 30 August 2026.

• One registration per ticket, made by the person attending. If you bought several tickets, pass the notice on to each of your guests and have them register themselves.
• Have the ticket in front of you. You register the printed QR code or barcode from the ticket, along with your name, address, date of birth, nationality, gender, the type of ID you will present on the day, and that ID’s number.
• A passport counts as your ID. At the venue you need the original of one government-issued photo ID — passport, driver’s license, My Number Card, residence card, student ID or disability certificate — or two government-issued documents without a photo. It has to be the document you registered.
• Ceremony tickets also stopped selling early. Sport sessions stayed on sale until the day they took place, but because of the registration process opening ceremony sales closed on September 14 at 23:59, and closing ceremony sales on September 29 at 23:59.
• The arrival time was announced on September 7, 2026. Identity checks start at 1:00 p.m. and gates open at 1:30 p.m.; the official English guidance is Please enter the venue by 16:00 for the opening ceremony and by 16:30 for the closing one [Source]. Arriving after it may mean refused entry, and the guide states that tickets cannot be refunded in that case.
• Registration has its own help desk, separate from the general ticket line: Aichi-Nagoya2026_id_support@pia.co.jp or +81-52-990-7050, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. every day, weekends included.

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“Currently Unavailable” Is Not Sold Out

On July 14, 2026, the organizers changed the wording used for a session with no seats left. What used to display as “Sold Out” now displays as “Currently Unavailable” in English (予定枚数終了 in Japanese) [Source].

The reason they gave is worth quoting in substance: seat numbers are still being finalized venue by venue, and many sports will have more stock released later. A session that is genuinely gone for good, with no further sales planned, keeps the “sold out” status and will be announced separately [Source].

This is not theoretical. On August 4, 2026 at 5:00 p.m., the organizers released additional tickets for sessions that had been showing as unavailable, including equestrian, surfing, volleyball at Okazaki and squash [Source].

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The Official Resale Service

An official resale service opened at 5:00 p.m. on August 4, 2026 [Source]. It worked in both directions: a second source of seats for buyers, and an exit for anyone whose trip fell through.

If you need to give a ticket back

Tickets could be listed until 23:59 three days before the session. The ceremonies had their own earlier deadlines: 23:59 on August 19 for the opening ceremony and 23:59 on September 7 for the closing ceremony.

Only electronic tickets bought on the official site with a credit card, debit card or Google Pay can be listed. Excluded are hospitality packages, the “Ouen plus” and “Premium plus” categories, tickets bought in the additional-sales round, and tickets bought anywhere other than the official site (with Ticket Pia the exception). Once a listing sells, the amount minus a fee is refunded automatically to the card. Listings can take up to about 24 hours to appear while the transaction is screened.

Four sports are outside the resale service entirely

Handball, weightlifting, water polo and cricket are excluded across all sessions, along with two football sessions whose schedules moved [Source].

If you are looking for a seat

Resale tickets appeared on the official sales site under their own selection button, separate from the regular inventory.

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Why Unofficial Resale Will Not Get You In

The official position is blunt: “Tickets purchased through unofficial channels will not be accepted for entry.” [Source]

If you are used to buying seats for big events on the secondary market, this is a genuine change of habit. A ticket bought outside the official channels will not get you through the gate — not at a discount, not at a markup, not at all. Between the official resale service and the periodic additional releases, there were two legitimate routes to a seat that had not existed a month earlier.

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Receiving Your Ticket, and the Phone Problem

Tickets are digital by default, shown on screen or printed from a PDF. Buy through one of the authorized agencies instead and you may collect at a convenience store [Source]. There was a third route until September 6, 2026: the City Ticket Office at Oasis 21 issued a physical paper ticket over the counter. It has now closed; the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Ticket Center in Sakae sells over the counter from September 9, but the official notice does not state what ticket format it issues.

Digital by default has an obvious implication that is easy to overlook when you are booking from home on wifi: your phone is the thing standing between you and the turnstile. If your data plan does not cover Japan, sort that out before you fly, and save a PDF copy of the ticket as a backup rather than relying on loading a page at the gate.

If anything goes wrong, ticket enquiries go to Aichi-Nagoya2026_support@pia.co.jp or 052-990-6573, weekdays 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. [Source]. Whether English support is available on that line has not been confirmed, so email is the safer first approach from abroad.

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The Date Trap: Competition Starts Before the Ceremony

The Games ran September 19 to October 4, 2026. But ticketed competition was scheduled to start on September 10 — nine days before the opening ceremony. The official ticketing guide listed paid sessions from September 10 onward [Source].

For the full day-by-day picture — which sports run on which dates, where the official schedule actually lives, and how to read it — see our Asian Games 2026 schedule: what is on, day by day.

One more scheduling note: the Asian Para Games run October 18 to 24, 2026, a separate event a fortnight after the Asian Games closed [Source]. If you are searching for tickets in late October, that is the event you want.

Where each sport is actually held is its own trap — the swimming is in Tokyo, not Nagoya. That, plus venues, hotels and transport, is covered in our full Asian Games 2026 visitor guide.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can I still buy Asian Games 2026 tickets?

No. The Asian Games closed on October 4, 2026. General sale had opened on June 30, 2026 and ran until the day each session took place, first come first served with no lottery. For the Asian Para Games, which run October 18 to 24, 2026, see our Asian Para Games 2026 guide.

Can I buy Asian Games tickets from outside Japan?

Yes, while sales were open. The official English ticket page listed eligibility for general sales as “No restrictions (including international sales)”. General sales required an Ouen-ID (also called a Supporter ID) to be registered before purchase. From August 19, 2026 there was an exception: the Asian Q Ticket, which covered unreserved seats only, was sold without ID registration.

How much do Asian Games 2026 tickets cost?

Sports sessions started at 1,500 yen. The opening ceremony ranged from 7,500 yen for a category D seat up to 60,000 yen for category A, with a child ticket at 4,000 yen. The closing ceremony ran from 5,000 yen for category D to 40,000 yen for category A, with a child ticket at 2,500 yen. The ceremonies were sold in four categories, A through D; sports sessions could also have an AA category, and there were separate child, disability, wheelchair and Heartful prices.

What does “Currently Unavailable” mean on the ticket site?

It did not mean sold out. In July 2026 the organizers renamed the status because seat numbers were still being finalized and many sports would have more stock released later. Additional tickets for equestrian, surfing, volleyball at Okazaki and squash went on sale on August 4, 2026. A genuinely permanent sell-out was to be announced separately.

Is there an official resale for Asian Games tickets?

Yes, it opened on August 4, 2026. Tickets could be listed until 23:59 three days before the session, with earlier deadlines for the ceremonies. Only electronic tickets bought on the official site by card or Google Pay qualified. Handball, weightlifting, water polo and cricket were excluded from the service entirely.

Do I need an account to buy tickets?

For general sales, yes. Registration of an Ouen-ID, referred to as a Supporter ID on the official English pages, was required before buying on the official site, and it was required for the After 4 Ticket as well. The exception, introduced on August 19, 2026, was the Asian Q Ticket, which was sold without ID registration — unreserved seating only, first come first served, until 90 minutes before a session was due to finish. The authorized agencies each required their own separate membership registration instead.

When does the competition actually start?

Ticketed competition was scheduled to start on September 10, 2026, nine days before the opening ceremony on September 19. The Games closed on October 4, 2026.

Can I buy Asian Games tickets in person in Nagoya?

During the Asian Games, yes. Two counters covered the period between them. The Aichi-Nagoya 2026 City Ticket Office ran inside the Oasis 21 i Center in Sakae from August 20 to September 6, 2026, 10:15 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. daily, selling tickets for all Asian Games sports subject to stock, taking cash and credit cards and issuing a paper ticket on the spot. From September 9 the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Ticket Center at 3-5-10 Sakae took over, with published opening periods of September 9 to October 4 and October 15 to 24, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., again selling tickets for every sport subject to stock. Neither counter handled resale.

Is there any way to buy without registering an account?

For the Asian Games, yes, from August 19, 2026. The Asian Q Ticket was sold without Supporter ID registration, for unreserved seats only, first come first served, and on sale until 90 minutes before a session was due to finish. Payment was by Apple Pay or Google Pay, delivery was an electronic ticket, and booking and system fees applied on top. General tickets, child tickets and disability tickets were eligible; wheelchair spaces and Heartful tickets were not.

My session date has changed. What happened?

On August 19, 2026 the organizers reissued the competition schedule, and eight sessions across handball, weightlifting and water polo were cancelled outright rather than rescheduled. Cancelled sessions are refunded after the Games, with the organizers contacting buyers at their registered email address.

Can I buy from a resale website like StubHub?

No. The organizers state that tickets purchased through unofficial channels will not be accepted for entry.

Are Asian Para Games tickets the same thing?

No, they are a separate event. The Asian Para Games run October 18 to 24, 2026, about two weeks after the Asian Games closed on October 4. For Para Games tickets, see our Asian Para Games 2026 guide.

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About the Author

Yuu was born in Nagoya and has lived here for 35 years. He wrote this page after watching friends abroad bounce off the official ticket site, which is thorough but splits the important details between its Japanese and English versions. The resale rules and the change to the sold-out wording were both things he only found by reading the Japanese announcements — which is exactly the sort of gap this site exists to close.

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Related Guides

• Asian Games 2026 Visitor Guide — venues, hotels, transport and what to do between sessions
• Asian Games 2026 Schedule — what is on, day by day, and where the official schedule really lives
• Asian Games 2026 Transport — getting to every venue by train, and what a day pass is worth
• Asian Games 2026 Spectator Itinerary — how to build your days around the sessions you booked
• Where to Stay in Nagoya — choosing your neighborhood
• Getting Around Nagoya — subways, buses and day passes
• Centrair Airport to the City — getting in from the airport
• Pocket WiFi and SIM Guide — data for your digital ticket
• Autumn Festivals in Nagoya and Central Japan — what else is on while the Games run