part_of japan at the 1986 asian winter games
The Olympic Council of ___MASK72___ ( OCA ) is a governing body of sports in ___MASK72___ , currently with 45 member National Olympic Committee . The current president is Sheikh Fahad Al - Sabah . The oldest NOC is from Japan and the Philippines , recognized by the International Olympic Committee ( IOC ) in 1911 ; whereas East Timor is the newest , joining in 2003 . The headquarters of OCA are located at Kuwait City . The Asian ___MASK100___ Games is a multi - sport event held every four years for members of the Olympic Council of ___MASK72___ ( OCA ) which features winter events . The Japanese Olympic Committee first suggested the idea of holding a winter version of the ___MASK46___ in 1982 . Their efforts were rewarded when they were finally given hosting rights for the first edition that was held in Sapporo in 1986 , as the city had the infrastructure and expertise gained from hosting of the 1972 ___MASK100___ Olympics . Sapporo is known outside ___MASK83___ for having hosted the ___MASK92___ , the first ever held in ___MASK72___ , and for the ___MASK90___ ' s annual " Yuki Matsuri ", internationally referred to as the Sapporo Snow Festival , which draws more than 2 million tourists from around the world . The ___MASK90___ is also home to Sapporo Brewery and the white chocolate biscuits called . The ___MASK53___ is the largest of the Earth ' s oceanic divisions . It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean ( or , depending on definition , to Antarctica ) in the south and is bounded by ___MASK72___ and Australia in the west and the Americas in the east . Taiwan , officially ___MASK64___ of ___MASK35___ ( ROC ), is a state in East Asia . Neighbors include ___MASK35___ ( officially the People ' s Republic of ___MASK35___ , abbreviated as PRC ) to the west , Japan to the northeast , and the Philippines to the south . Taiwan is the most populous state that is not a member of the United Nations , and the one with the largest economy . ___MASK83___ (" Nippon " or " Nihon " ; formally "" or " Nihon - koku ", means " ___MASK34___ of ___MASK83___ ") is a sovereign island nation in Eastern ___MASK72___ . Located in the Pacific Ocean , It is lying off the eastern coast of the ___MASK72___ Mainland ( east of ___MASK35___ , Korea , Russia ) and stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East ___MASK35___ Sea and near Taiwan in the southwest . ___MASK72___ is Earth ' s largest and most populous continent , located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres and sharing the continental landmass of Eurasia with the continent of Europe . ___MASK72___ covers an area of , about 30 % of Earth ' s total land area and 8 . 7 % of the Earth ' s total surface area . The continent , which has long been home to the majority of the human population , was the site of many of the first civilizations . ___MASK72___ is notable for not only its overall large size and population , but also dense and large settlements as well as vast barely populated regions within the continent of 4 . 4 billion people . The ___MASK24___ has five breweries in Japan , the Sleeman brewery in Canada , and Sapporo Brewing ___MASK24___ in La Crosse , ___MASK29___ , U . S . The main brands are " Sapporo Draft " (" Premium " in North America ); " Yebisu "; and " Sleeman Cream Ale ". Sapporo Premium has been the # 1 selling Asian beer in the United States since Sapporo U . S . A ., Inc . was first founded in 1984 . ___MASK35___ , officially the People ' s Republic of ___MASK35___ ( PRC ), is a unitary sovereign state in East Asia . With a population of over 1 . 381 billion , it is the world ' s most populous country . The state is governed by the Communist Party of ___MASK35___ , and its capital is Beijing . It exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces , five autonomous regions , four direct - controlled municipalities ( Beijing , Tianjin , Shanghai , and Chongqing ), and two mostly self - governing special administrative regions ( Hong Kong and Macau ), and claims sovereignty over Taiwan . The country ' s major urban areas include Shanghai , Guangzhou , Beijing , Chongqing , Shenzhen , Tianjin and Hong Kong . ___MASK35___ is a great power and a major regional power within Asia , and has been characterized as a potential superpower . The is a festival held annually in Sapporo , ___MASK83___ , over seven days in February . Odori Park , Susukino , and Tsudome are the main sites of the festival . The 2015 Snow Festival dates were 5 to 11 February . The ___MASK55___ of Okhotsk is a marginal ___MASK55___ of the western ___MASK53___ , lying between the Kamchatka Peninsula on the east , the Kuril Islands on the southeast , the island of Hokkaido to the south , the island of Sakhalin along the west , and a long stretch of eastern Siberian coast ( the Shantar ___MASK55___ ) along the west and north . The northeast corner is the Shelikhov Gulf . The ___MASK55___ is named after Okhotsk , the first ___MASK67___ settlement in the Far East . The 1st Asian ___MASK100___ Games were held from March 1 to 8 , 1986 in Sapporo , Hokkaid , Japan . The Japanese Olympic Committee first suggested the idea of having a continent - wide ___MASK100___ version of the ___MASK46___ in 1982 . With Sapporo ' s expertise and infrastructure available after successfully hosting the 1972 ___MASK100___ Olympics , the Olympic Council of Asia General Assembly in Seoul in 1984 decided to give Japan the privilege of hosting the first ever Asian ___MASK100___ Games . Participating in a total of 35 events in seven sports were 430 athletes and officials from seven countries . Russia ( from the  Rus '), also officially known as the ___MASK67___ Federation , is a country in Eurasia . At , Russia is the largest country in the world by surface area , covering more than one - eighth of the Earth ' s inhabited land area , and the ninth most populous , with over 140 million people at the end of March 2016 . The European western part of the country is much more populated and urbanised than the eastern , about 77 % of the population live in ___MASK40___ . Russia ' s capital Moscow is one of the largest cities in the world , other major urban centers include Saint Petersburg , Novosibirsk , Yekaterinburg , Nizhny Novgorod and Samara . The ___MASK46___ , also known as Asiad , is a Pancontinental multi - sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia . The Games were regulated by the ___MASK46___ Federation ( AGF ) from the first Games in New Delhi , India , until the 1978 Games . Since the 1982 Games they have been organized by the Olympic Council of Asia ( OCA ), after the breakup of the ___MASK46___ Federation . The Games are recognized by the International Olympic Committee ( IOC ) and are described as the second largest multi - sport event after the Olympic Games . Seoul (  )  officially the Seoul Special ___MASK90___  is the capital and largest metropolis of the Republic of Korea ( commonly known as South Korea ), forming the heart of the Seoul Capital Area , which includes the surrounding Incheon metropolis and Gyeonggi province , the world ' s 16th largest ___MASK90___ . It is home to over half of all South Koreans along with 678 , 102 international residents . Korea is a historical ___MASK34___ in East ___MASK72___ , since 1945 divided into two distinct sovereign states : North Korea ( officially the " Democratic People ' s Republic of Korea ") and South Korea ( officially the " Republic of Korea "). Located on the Korean Peninsula , Korea is bordered by ___MASK35___ to the northwest and Russia to the northeast . It is separated from Japan to the east by the Korea Strait and the East Sea . The ___MASK27___ Olympic Association ( JOA ) ( Romaji : Nippon Orinpikku Iinkai ) ( formerly ___MASK27___ Olympic Committee ) is the national Olympic committee in ___MASK83___ for the ___MASK14___ movement , based in Tokyo , ___MASK83___ . It is a non - profit organisation that selects teams and raises funds to send ___MASK27___ competitors to Olympic events organised by the International Olympic Committee ( IOC ). The ___MASK92___ , officially known as the ( French : Les " XIes Jeux olympiques d ' hiver "), were a winter multi - sport event which was held from February 3 to February 13 , 1972 , in Sapporo , Hokkaid , Japan . It was the first Winter Olympics to be held outside Europe and North America , and only the third game ( summer or winter ) held outside those regions over all , after Melbourne ( 1956 Summer Olympics ) and Tokyo ( 1964 Summer Olympics ). ___MASK83___ participated and hosted the 1986 Asian ___MASK100___ Games held in Sapporo , Hokkaid , ___MASK83___ from March 1 to March 8 , 1986 . This country garnered 29 gold medals securing its top spot in the medal tally .