Asian Games 2026 Sept 20-21 schedule: Typhoon Dujuan may hit medal events | Asian Games 2026

A typhoon threat is building over Japan just as the Asian Games 2026 programme moves from a limited opening-day schedule to medal events from Sunday, raising the possibility of delays or postponements around September 21.

Japan’s chef de mission for the Games, Kosei Inoue, who is also a senior executive board member of the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC), said on Thursday that organisers were preparing for possible weather-related disruptions due to Typhoon Dujuan.

“Due to the heavy rain and severe weather, some competitions have already experienced delays or postponements, and there is also a possibility that a typhoon could approach on September 21,” Inoue told reporters. “Under these circumstances, we are holding thorough meetings within the JOC to ensure that we are fully prepared and capable of responding appropriately to the situations.”

The Asian Games officially begin in Nagoya on Saturday, September 19, but some competitions, including women’s cricket, soft tennis and teqball, had already got underway before the opening ceremony. 

Why weather is a concern for Asian Games

According to Japenese daily The Asahi Shimbun, Typhoon No 25, named Dujuan, was moving west near Chichijima island and could move towards the Pacific coast of eastern Japan on September 20-21. The Japan Meteorological Agency said the storm could turn northward and then northeastward, bringing heavy rain from eastern Japan to the northeastern Tohoku region.

The report said rainfall over the 24-hour period through noon on September 21 could reach up to 200 mm in the Kanto region and the Izu islands. Residents along the Pacific coast from the Tokai to Tohoku regions, as well as in the Izu islands, were advised to remain alert for landslides, flooding in low-lying areas and rising river levels from September 20 to 21.

Dujuan was moving west-northwest at 40 kmph about 310 km southeast of Chichijima island on Friday. The typhoon had a central pressure of 975 hectopascals, with maximum sustained winds of 108 kmph near the centre and gusts of up to 162 kmph, the report said.

The typhoon is expected to move east of the Kanto region by the morning of September 21. By the morning of September 22, it is forecast to move towards the ocean east of Japan and turn into an extratropical cyclone, bringing rain to Tokyo.

India context: Women’s cricket already underway

For India, the weather watch is important because several outdoor competitions are part of the early Asian Games schedule. Women’s cricket, one of India’s key medal events, began before the official opening ceremony, with the tournament being played at Korogi Athletic Park in Aichi Prefecture.

India’s women’s cricket team is defending the gold medal it won at the Hangzhou Asian Games. The women’s competition runs from September 17 to 22, with the final scheduled before the men’s tournament begins later in the Games.

Rain interruptions are especially significant in cricket because wet outfields and persistent showers can delay tosses, shorten matches or force no-results. With medal rounds scheduled during the period when Dujuan could influence weather across eastern Japan, organisers and teams will be watching conditions closely over the next few days.