Being back in Japan for a presentation at a scientific meeting, I was lucky to be in Nagasaki during the Lantern Festival. The festival begun just as a celebration of the Chinese New Year in Nagasaki Shinchi Chinatown by the resident Chinese merchants. It has expanded in 1994 to be a winter staple event throughout the city taking place in the first 15 days of the Chinese lunar new year.
My friends residing in Nagasaki took me there on the night before my flight back to Manila. The festival featured more than 15,000 lanterns making it the largest of its kind in all of Japan.
We went first to Chuo Park where there were performers doing lion dance in Okinawan music (surprise, surprise!). Aside from the hanging lanterns, there were also big floats on the park and along the way going to the main Chinatown place. The place was so crowded.
In the Minato Park located inside the Chinatown, there was a bigger stage with performers also doing lion dances. But what struck me the most is an altar where there were a number of pig’s heads. I don’t really know what those things symbolize in Chinese traditions.
Thinking that all of the restaurants in Chinatown might be so crowded, we decided to go somewhere else to have our dinner. Fortunately, we saw dragon dance performance in the covered shopping arcade while we were walking towards the parking area.
It was a nice night reuniting with some friends while celebrating the Chinese lunar new year.
Amoj In Wanderland 