The Italian cruise ship Costa Serena docked in Nagoya, where the Games are taking place until October 4.
Around 4,000 athletes and officials will be housed on the ship, which is almost 300 metres long, weighs over 100,000 tonnes and has 1,500 cabins.
More than 17,000 athletes and officials are expected at the Games, which officially open on Saturday, a bigger number than the Olympics.
Participants will also stay in wooden container-style huts and standard hotel rooms in a bid to cut costs.
South Korean officials said earlier this week that the container hut rooms were the “worst ever” and claimed on Tuesday that concerns had been shared by every team at the Games.
Local organising committee president Hideaki Omura said the temporary accommodation could be a model for hosting financially sustainable sporting events.
“This is the first time in Japan that a cruise ship is being used as accommodation for a big international sporting event,” Omura said at a ceremony to welcome the cruise ship to Nagoya.
“We’re happy that we can provide a new type of accommodation for a large-scale event like this.”
Cruise ships have been used previously as accommodation at international sporting events, but never on this scale.
Jung Jae-yong, vice president of the Korea Basketball Association, said he was deeply unhappy with the cabins where the men’s basketball team are staying.
He said the beds were too small for the athletes, and a player from the team posted a video on social media showing a leaking sink and soaked floor in his hut.
Hundreds of athletes were briefly evacuated from their accommodation last week as record rainfall lashed Nagoya causing flooding.
Organisers are hoping there will be fewer complaints about the cruise ship, which is being hired at a cost of about 4.5 billion yen, despite the Games taking place during Japan’s typhoon season.
Organisers said earlier this year that the vessel was being chartered at a cost of about 4.5 billion yen. (AFP)