Celebrate Chinese New Year in Nagasaki, where the Lantern Festival brings a splash of Chinese festivity

Among the countries people most want to visit for New Year’s celebrations, Japan always ranks high. In addition to traditional Japanese New Year customs such as staying up late to watch the “Kohaku Uta Gassen,” listening to the “108 temple bells” at midnight, enjoying “Osechi” New Year’s cuisine with family, wearing kimono for the first shrine visit of the year (“Hatsumode”), Japan’s Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations are also a highlight—especially the vibrant Chinatowns that are filled with rich New Year atmosphere.

Nagasaki in Kyushu, which opened as a port in 1570, has been deeply influenced by both Western and Chinese cultures. A wide variety of imported goods and culinary flavors have blended with local elements to create unique new products. Nagasaki’s Chinatown, known as “Shinchi Chinatown,” takes on especially strong Chinese characteristics during the Lunar New Year. During the Chinese New Year period, the “Nagasaki Lantern Festival,” centered around Chinatown, lights up the streets with over 10,000 lanterns, creating a dazzling display full of Chinese flavor.

The Shinchi Chinatown in Nagasaki City is the main venue for the Lantern Festival, extending into the city’s park area. In harmony with the colorful Chinese-style buildings in Chinatown, the festival features traditional performances such as dragon and lion dances, as well as Chinese acrobatics. Among the highlights is a parade that reenacts the Qing Dynasty emperor’s procession to view the lanterns, complete with elaborately dressed figures including the emperor, empress, court officials, a large retinue of ladies-in-waiting, and women with bound feet. There are also parades such as the Mazu procession that join in the festive spirit with the public, filling the entire bustling district with New Year cheer.

This year being the Year of the Tiger, the main streets and shopping areas of the Nagasaki Lantern Festival are adorned with more than 10,000 Chinese-style lanterns, and the centerpiece is the “Tiger’s Roar Through the Wind.” Various tiger-shaped lanterns, along with ingeniously designed lighting decorations, exude a powerful and majestic presence. Visitors arriving at JR Nagasaki Station can also catch a glimpse of the lantern displays inside the station, giving them an early taste of Nagasaki’s lively lantern spectacular.

2010 Nagasaki Lantern Festival
Event Dates: February 14–28
Transportation: From Hakata Station in Fukuoka, take the JR Kagoshima Main Line to Nagasaki Station, then transfer to the Nagasaki Electric Tram and get off at Tsukimachi Station. It’s about a 5-minute walk from there.
Website: www.nagasaki-lantern.com

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Related Reading: The Meganebashi (Spectacles Bridge) is a famous Nagasaki landmark (provided by Tripass Attraction Home)