The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA)welcomed the joint proposal from Aichi prefecture and its capital Nagoya to host the Games at their annual general assembly session in Danang, Vietnam, on September 25, 2016.

[4] The OCA originally planned to choose the 2026 host city in 2018, but brought the planning date forward due to the intensity of the region's sporting calendar, including the next two Winter Olympic Games between 2018 and 2022 (held in Pyeongchang and Beijing) and the next Summer Olympic Games (scheduled for Tokyo in 2020).

The current plans is that Paloma Mizuho Stadium will host both the opening and closing ceremonies and athletics events, Nippon Gaishi Hall is scheduled to be the venue for both gymnastics and aquatics, the Vantelin Dome Nagoya is to be used for baseball, and the Toyota Stadium is to be used as football main venue.

[9] The official motto of the 2026 Asian Games, "Imagine One Asia" was announced on 1 April 2020 to mark six years before the opening ceremony.

Five regional sports that was nominated by each region of the Olympic Council of Asia: Two sports that will be part of the 2020, 2024, and 2028 Summer Olympics and are not part of the core Asian Games program: Sport that entered due an agreement between AINAGOC (Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games Organizing Committee) and the OCA: A final decision on inclusion of cricket is scheduled in 2025, with Asian Cricket Council having pushed for the bid and OCA President Randhir Singh "hopeful" for it.