Story Be intoxicated by exotic and dynamic dances in a great autumn festival By JNTO on 01 September 2017

As one of the biggest events in Nagasaki Prefecture with nearly 400 years of history, this dynamic, gorgeous festival with a cosmopolitan atmosphere is filled with dance, more dance, and loud cheers! Listed as a National Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property, the Nagasaki Kunchi Festival is held on October 7th, 8th, and 9th annually, filling streets all over Nagasaki with dance and a mood of celebration. The main venues are Suwa-jinja Shrine, where the local deity of Nagasaki is enshrined, and three other places: Otabisho, Yasaka-jinja Shrine, and Chuo Park. The highlight of this festival is a dance called “Dashimono”, which is dedicated to the god. All the dancing groups are divided into seven performance groups, which rotate annually to perform the dances. Dancers in each group perform their own unique dance when they are on rotation, so seven different performances can be enjoyed every seven years. Another highlight of this festival is the loud cheers such as “Motte-koi!” or “Shomo-yare!” – meaning “encore” in local dialect, which create a heightened festive mood. People in each “Odori-cho” (neighborhood performance groups) open their doors to the public to exhibit their display of dance costumes and equipment, which is also one of the great charms of Nagasaki Kunchi.

Nagasaki Kunchi Festival

Address

18-15 Kaminishiyama-machi, Nagasaki City (Suwa-jinja Shrine)

Website

http://travel.at-nagasaki.jp/en/what-to-see/64/

Phone

095-825-5175 (Multilingual Call Center for Foreign Travelers)