Nagasaki has showcased its otherworldly beauty once again through its annual lantern festival, which looks like it came straight out of Studio Ghibli’s “Spirited Away” movie.
The two-week long festival, which kicked off on February 5 and will end on February 19, coincides with the Lunar New Year celebration. Nagasaki is one of the cities in Japan that were opened to foreign trade, and it has a long connection with Chinese culture, according to SoraNews24.
During the annual Nagasaki Lantern Festival, city officials and organizers hang around 15,000 lanterns around the city’s Chinatown neighborhood.
Subscribe to
NextShark's Newsletter
A daily dose of Asian America's essential stories, in under 5 minutes.
Get our collection of Asian America's most essential stories to your inbox daily for free.
Unsure? Check out our Newsletter Archive.
For those who are planning to visit Nagasaki, it’s highly suggested to partake in the festivities right after sunset. Not only will the lanterns look like they are floating with the backdrop of the dark sky, they will also look beautiful when they’re reflected in the river, or the puddles of rain water on the streets.
Even the view from the train looks absolutely stunning.
Twitter user and Nagasaki local, @hitsuji_eat, recorded a couple of clips while riding the train that runs between Nagasaki’s Meganebashi Bridge and Hama no Machi shopping arcade. As noted by SoraNews24, this somehow resembles the train ride going to the witch Yubaba’s Aburaya bathhouse in “Spirited Away.”
The lanterns are not the only attraction visitors can expect in Nagasaki. The report also noted that there were parades, live music, and acrobatic performances.
Featured image (left) via Twitter / elilly_mam, (right) via Twitter / YouTubeDai5TV
