Nagasaki Shinchi Chinatown
長崎新地中華街
One of Japan's three major Chinatowns. This compact district is known for its signature dishes: Nagasaki champon, sara udon and kakuni steamed buns.
Shinchi Chinatown is known, together with the Chinatowns of Yokohama and Kobe's Nankinmachi, as one of Japan's three major Chinatowns. It took shape around the Tōjin Yashiki, the residential quarter of Chinese merchants in the Edo period, and the Shinchi warehouses. The district is laid out in a cross shape, with a gate at each of the four ends. It is about 250 metres long and has roughly 40 Chinese restaurants and general stores, mostly long-established shops run by people from Fujian. The signature dishes are Nagasaki champon, a mixed seafood noodle soup said to have been created by Fujian-born Chen Pingshun to look after Chinese students, and sara udon, crispy fried noodles topped with a thick seafood sauce. Kakuni steamed buns, filled with Dongpo-style braised pork, and a range of Chinese pastries are also popular. Each year, for about two weeks around the Lunar New Year, the Nagasaki Lantern Festival fills the city centre with about 15,000 colourful lanterns, along with a Mazu procession, Chinese dragon dances and an emperor's parade. It is the biggest event of Nagasaki's winter. A few minutes' walk away are the Tenhō-dō and Dojin-dō of the former Tōjin Yashiki site. Getting there: take the streetcar to the Shinchi Chinatown stop, and the district is right there. Most restaurants are open about 11:00 to 21:00, and some shops have no fixed closing day.
Opening hours
Shops approx. 10:00–21:00
Nearby sights
- Tojin Yashiki Site
- Dejima
- Nagasaki Prefectural Art Museum & Mizubenomori Park
- Dutch Slope & Higashi-Yamate Western Houses
- Meganebashi Bridge
- Nagasaki Confucius Shrine
- Sofuku-ji Temple
- Oura Church