Japan Mobile Container House

The mobile container houses used by Japan in the Nagoya Asian Games were adopted as accommodation facilities for athletes due to issues such as budget overruns, but they triggered numerous controversies due to poor living experiences.

Configuration and Living Conditions of Container Houses

The organizing committee of the Nagoya Asian Games set up temporary container housing at the Nagoya Port Garden Pier, expected to accommodate about 2,000 people. Each unit consists of two households, with each household planned as a two-bedroom, one-living-room layout that can accommodate three people. The entire house features wooden decor, with one toilet, one bathroom, and a changing room. Small spaces are equipped with a refrigerator and a sink, and a washing machine and an air conditioner are also provided. However, the rooms have numerous hardware shortcomings: The single beds are only 195 centimeters long, making it difficult for basketball and volleyball players who are about two meters tall to lie down without their feet hanging off the bed. The room height and aisles are narrow; the internal height of a standard container is generally about 2.4 meters, and after installing the ceiling and floor, the net height may be only about 2.1 meters. A 1.9-meter-tall volleyball player standing inside can touch the ceiling with their raised palm, and there is only a narrow walkway between the two beds that can accommodate one person standing, making the space quite cramped and with poor sound insulation.

Living Experience Issues

• Poor living environment: The container houses are made of iron sheets with wooden linings. When exposed to the sun during the day, the interior becomes like a tin can. Organizing committee officials suggested that athletes open the door to cool the entire room before going to bed at night and then close the door to sleep, indicating that the room is unbearably hot during the day. Moreover, in September in Nagoya, the daytime temperature can still reach over 30 degrees Celsius, and the humidity is high near the port. The container houses are highly airtight, with only one air conditioner installed in the living room, leaving it uncertain whether people in the two bedrooms can enjoy cool air at night.
• Safety hazards: A South Korean men's basketball player posted a video showing a leaking sink and a flooded floor in the room. Coupled with heavy rainfall in the area, some container camps faced emergencies, and hundreds of athletes had to be urgently evacuated.

Commuting Issues

The container camps are far from some competition venues, and the commute by bus to and from the competition venues often takes more than an hour, which additionally consumes the athletes' physical energy.