Overview
- The Nagasaki Kunchi opened on Wednesday, October 7, 2026 and runs through October 9 with ceremonies at Suwa Shrine plus shows at Yasaka Shrine, Central Park and the city’s Otabisho.
- Six local dance districts resumed their scheduled turns this year after a three-year postponement, leaving some groups to appear for the first time in ten years under the festival’s usual seven-year rotation.
- Spectacle highlights included Motomachi’s唐船祭 with a roughly 5-ton唐人船 dragged and spun by root-puller teams, Kamimachi’s performance that tossed and caught a roughly 1-ton float, and Chikugo-machi’s three-dragon dance.
- Large crowds filled the stone-terraced viewing areas and shop-lined streets for庭先回り processions, repeatedly calling the encore shout “モッテコーイ” as spectators cheered and participants answered.
- Organizers emphasized continuity and small modern adjustments—participants began preparations in June, hats were allowed at the shrine for heat, and the event continues as a nationally designated Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property with more than 390 years of history.