Esports joins Olympians at Japan’s 2026 Sports Festival

Esports featured alongside traditional sports at Japan’s Sports Festival 2026 in Tokyo on Tuesday, 3 November. The free public event celebrated the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games and Asian Para Games, giving visitors a chance to try games at a national team training centre.

The festival was held at the Ajinomoto National Training Center East in Kita ward. Its esports area offered free drop-in sessions, with no advance registration required, as part of a programme that also brought visitors together with Olympians and Paralympians.

Family games on the festival programme

Visitors played racing, football and rhythm games in groups for around five to ten minutes at a time. Some used standard controllers, while others were motion-based and required players to move their bodies. The organisers said the area was open to children and adults, but did not name the games or any esports partners.

Children taking part in the afternoon session of the festival’s Active Child Program received priority access. The esports experience ran from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. local time, while the wider festival ran from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The festival opened with a ceremony and group exercise led by Olympians and Paralympians. Athletes then spoke about their sports and careers at a talk show. Families could tour the training centre, visit a memorial gallery for Aichi-Nagoya 2026 and try 20 recreational sports.

Olympic swimmer Takeshi Matsuda also led a cooking class about what athletes eat. A separate programme combined sport with traditional Japanese arts, reflecting the festival’s timing on Culture Day, a national holiday.

An Asian Games connection

The event was a special edition of Japan’s annual Sports Day celebration. It was organised by the Japan Sports Agency, Japan Sport Council, Japan Sport Association, Japanese Olympic Committee, Japanese Para Sports Association and Japan Recreation Association, with Ajinomoto as a cooperating partner.

It followed the Aichi-Nagoya Games, where esports had 11 medal events across 13 games. Japan won Pokémon UNITE gold by beating Indonesia in the final, while Kurihara Yuki won the Puyo Puyo Champions event. Japan also took silver in Identity V after losing the final to China.

What the festival shows

The gaming sessions were designed for families rather than competitive players. Even so, esports appeared on the same programme as Olympic and Paralympic activities at a national team training centre, following its place in the Aichi-Nagoya Games.