On 2026-09-23 we went to see the Equestrian Cross Country event at the Nagoya / Aichi Asia Games. The events were held in Tokyo at Baiji Park in Setagaya maps.app.goo.gl/kq2D6yFdeaJJhz3k6. We watched the Cross Country event. At the end of the day, Japan won Silver in the Team event, and a Japanese athlete, Oiwa Yoshiaki, got Bronze in individuals.

Lisa was able to get tickets cheaply, and we thought it would be a fun experience for the kids. We had to take them out of school for one day – we got an excused absence – and in the morning headed out. It was about an hour from where we live. This was interesting, because the Asia Games this year are hosted in Nagoya and the surrounding Aichi prefecture, which is pretty far. But the equestrian events were in Tokyo for some reason.

We took the train to Shibuya, and caught a bus from there. It wasn’t too busy; the event started at 10, but we left at about 7am, and got there at about 9am. The grounds are nice, and had probably the nicest grass I’ve seen at a park in Tokyo. We went and got a seat in the grandstands that had a roof. The weather was overcast, and there was the possibility of rain.

The grandstands were right at the start of the Cross Country course, so we saw the horses warm up, and they had a nice jump right in front of us. Lisa and Momo wandered around the course once the event started to check out some other angles, but it had started to rain by then, so Alan and I were content to stay under the shelter. The horses took off every six minutes or so, and they were timed, so there was only ever one horse on the course at once. They had a few angles and would show those on the screen so we could follow along a bit. Mostly though you had to listen pretty closely to catch what the times were and keep updated on team standings that way.

It’s really impressive to see these huge horses jump over the obstacles. We had a nice view of the first obstacle at the start.

There were a couple of food trucks at the event, so we got some lunch and had that as we watched. Also, at some point the announcer said that Princess Hitachi had come to watch. I don’t really know much about Japanese royalty, but certainly you don’t have a chance to see royalty commonly in Japan.

It rained just about the entire day once we arrived. I was impressed that they kept on running the course. At the end we stayed for the awards and closing ceremony, at about 3pm.

Afterwards we headed home. I think everyone had a good time – it certainly was a change of pace, and I’m glad we had the chance to spectate some of the Asia Games!