Japanese organizers admit public awareness of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games ¡°needs to be higher¡± as they look to ramp up interest with Friday marking a year to go until the start of the sporting spectacular.

The pandemic-delayed 2023 edition in Hangzhou, China, featured about 12,000 athletes ¡ª the biggest Asian Games in history, with more athletes than the Olympics.

Host Japan hopes next year¡¯s event will make a similar splash.