The games debuted the five Asian former republics of the Soviet Union: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

[1] In 1983, two cities in Asia demonstrated interest to host the 1990 Asian Games, one was Beijing in the People's Republic of China and the other was Hiroshima in Japan.

Beijing eventually won the right to host the 1990 edition.However, the Japanese authorities were unaware of the Chinese proposal until this date and were surprised by the option for the capital of China.

Poppo and Cuccu, male and female respectively, represent peace and harmony - the main theme of this edition of the Asian Games.

*   Host nation (Japan)The Chinese had 11 athletes test positive for banned drugs and anabolic steroids at the 1994 Asian Games.