Japan is known for world-class events - but the Asian Games were chaotic

Japan is widely associated with world-class events, yet the Asian Games proved chaotic

From the Olympics to Tokyo’s annual video game convention, Japan has a strong record of staging major international events. But this year’s Asian Games in Nagoya and the wider Aichi Prefecture were overshadowed by problems.

There were diplomatic mistakes, transport mix-ups and accommodation turmoil. In online comment sections, some called it the "worst Games in history" and demanded a "full investigation".

Prof Kozo Tomiyama, who studies major sporting events at Osaka University, said organisers were unable to cope with 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.

Takaaki Omi, the deputy director general of the Games, acknowledged that organisers had encountered a variety of unforeseen problems, but said they had listened to feedback and made improvements.

Even before the tournament began, participants were already complaining about a shortage of rooms and poor accommodation.

To save money, organisers chose not to build a traditional athletes' village and instead placed participants in hotels and container-style units across Nagoya. A senior Korean basketball official said tall athletes staying in the containers were having trouble "stretch their legs out on the beds".

Last-minute increases in the number of participants put such pressure on the city’s capacity that an Italian cruise ship with 1,500 cabins was brought in to make up the shortfall.

The organising committee had originally arranged accommodation for up to 15,000 delegation members "in accordance with the host city contract", Omi told the BBC. But after additional sports were added, the figure rose by 2,000 to 17,000.

Organisers first said there was "simply nowhere" to house the late arrivals and told them to arrange their own accommodation - before reversing course and issuing a joint statement with the Olympic Council of Asia saying all "17,000-plus" guests would receive "Games-appropriate accommodation".

Container units were used to house some participants as organisers opted not to build a traditional athletes' village

That was only the beginning of the difficulties.

During the Games, athletes were taken by bus to the wrong venues, and the North Korean anthem was played for the South Korean men's hockey team. At the men's football gold medal ceremony, the South Korean flag was not raised correctly. Taiwan's sports minister was also briefly prevented from attending a flag-raising event.

In the final days of the Games, volunteers got an email inviting them to the closing ceremony free of charge. But later, an organiser said the free-ticket plan was still under review and had not been approved.

Omi said the series of incidents at the event - which was larger than the Paris Olympics in terms of participants - had caused major inconvenience for some delegations.

"Hosting and managing an event of this scale was a major challenge for us, and each day involved addressing a range of unexpected issues and challenges," he said.

"During the Games, we also listened carefully to feedback from the athletes who were actually using the facilities and responded promptly with necessary improvements and measures."

Organisers admitted major difficulties and said athletes from some delegations had been inconvenienced

As soon as the problems emerged, local media began blaming the company responsible for venue operations: the Japanese subsidiary of France’s GL Events.

GL Events won the 63bn yen (£306m; $405m) contract over Dentsu Group, an advertising giant with a long record of successfully running sporting events in Japan, but which had been sidelined after a criminal bid-rigging conviction.

A source told Kyodo news agency that GL Events was "overwhelmingly cheaper" than rival providers.

Last week, the Tokyo Shimbun newspaper accused the company of aggressively cutting hiring costs, leaving too few experienced staff to deal with the problems that arose. The newspaper alleged that the workers who were hired were not properly trained.

But organiser Takaaki Omi stressed that GL Events "has experience in international sporting events, including the Paris Olympic Games".

"We believe the necessary competition environment was in place by the start of competition, including thorough discussions and co-ordination with GL Events," he told the BBC.

Prof Tomiyama said he did not think it was right to "simply conclude that GL events did not have sufficient experience with international competitions". In his view, the problem came from the "extremely broad" scope of responsibility assigned to the company.

"Also, because this was a negotiated contract rather than a competitive tender, it's important to examine the criteria organisers used to assess the contractor's capabilities, as well as how they supervised the contractor after the contract was awarded," Tomiyama added.

GL Events did not respond to repeated BBC requests for comment.

Volunteers were told they could attend the closing ceremony for free, before an organiser said that decision hadn't been approved

Watching organisers scramble to deal with each new issue as it arose throughout the Games felt far removed from what the world expects of a major Japanese event.

It was a long way from the "omotenashi" spirit - Japan’s wholehearted hospitality, almost an art form - that they may have hoped to display.

Officials eventually had to send a formal apology to South Korea over the series of mishaps affecting that delegation.

Still, Olympic Council of Asia director general Husain al-Musallam pointed to the 54 new world records set at the Games - in swimming, weightlifting and shooting - as evidence of success.

"This achievement does not come without the best environment that the organising committee created for the athletes," he said. "The athletes cannot perform if they don't sleep good, the athletes cannot perform if they don't have good transportation."

Although the Games are over, the problems have not ended.

Troubles have continued at the ongoing Para Games, where the wrong national anthems were played at three events. Nagoya Mayor Ichiro Hirosawa, who is also deputy head of the Games organising committee, called it "unacceptable" and apologised.

Prof Tomiyama hopes organisers will learn from the past few weeks and deliver better sporting events in the future.