Travel notes of Nagasaki: Nagasaki Lantern Festival (Shinchi Chinatown and Confucian Shrine)

[Introduction]

I traveled to Nagasaki Prefecture for three days and two nights. The main objective was to see “Nagasaki Lantern Festival. In this article, I will write about Nagasaki Lantern Festival at Shinchi Chinatown and Confucian Shrine as part of day 2.

[Visit Places (series of articles)]
* Day 1 (1) Huis Ten Bosch: Flower Road and Amsterdam City etc.
* Day 1 (2) Huis Ten Bosch: Tower City and Harbor Town etc.
* Day 1 (3) Huis Ten Bosch: illumination in the evening
* Day 2 (1) Peace Park, Urakami Cathedral and Atomic Bomb Museum
* Day 2 (2) Oura Cathedral, Glover Garden, Confucian Shrine, Dutch slope and Meganebashi Bridge
* Day 2 (3) Nagasaki Lantern Festival: Shinchi Chinatown and Confucian Shrine [This article]
* Day 3 (1) Dejima and Twenty-Six Martyrs Museum and Monument
* Day 3 (2) Nagasaki Lantern Festival: Central Park
* Day 3 (3) Nagasaki Lantern Festival: Shian-bashi Bridge and Tojin Yashiki Ato

[Travel Date]
2016.02.11-13

[Main Part]

It was the second day in the evening of my trip to Nagasaki. Now I will watch Nagasaki Lantern Festival, which was the primary objective to visit Nagasaki.

What is Nagasaki Lantern Festival?

Nagasaki Lantern Festival is an event to celebrate Chinese New Year. Originally, the festival took place in Nagasaki Shinchi Chinatown where Chinese residents lived. Since 1994, the event has grown throughout Nagasaki city. About 15 thousand lanterns are displayed and a variety of events (eg, Chinese Acrobatics) are held. There are several event sites for Nagasaki Lantern Festival and I visited Shinchi Chinatown and Confucian Shrine on the second day.

Shinchi Chinatown

First, I will start to watch Nagasaki Lantern Festival from Shinchi Chinatown site, which is the main site of the festival.

Lanterns near the closest tram station.

Doza-gawa river ran along Chinatown and this spot was one the view spots.

There were several ornaments near the entrance of Chinatown.

At the entrance of Chinatown.

Main street of Chinatown.

There were so many visitors.

It was raining.

After passing the main street, I arrived at Minato Park.

There were a variety of ornaments here.

Confucian Shrine

Next, I visited Confucian Shrine, which I had visited once in the afternoon on that day.

I saw lots of visitors here, too.

Symmetry.

Statues placed on the right and left side.

Main building.

Chinatown again

I returned to Chinatown and finished my activities on the second day.

[Closing]

That’s it for the article about Nagasaki Lantern Festival at Chinatown and Confusion Shrine as part of Day 2. Although I expected in advance, I was surprised to see so many visitors. They should have come from all over the country. To be honest, it was difficult to take photos due to congestion, but I was impressed with beautiful lanterns and ornaments. I believe it was worth visiting 🙂

In the next article, I will write about Dejima and Twenty-Six Martyrs Museum and Monument, which I visited on the third day in the morning.

［Related Link］
Nagasaki Lantern Festival (English)