Officials from China and Japan begin the celebration for the Chinese Lunar New Year on Jan 6 in Nagoya. [Photo/Chinaculture.org]

A three-day celebration for the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year kicked off Jan 6 in the central Japanese city of Nagoya.

The celebration, conducted in the form of a temple fair, was held on Hisaya Square in downtown Nagoya, where red lanterns and flags were hung high and people cheered in a festival atmosphere.

In order to support this event, China’s Ministry of Culture sent the Culture and Art Troupe of Henan province to give performances for the opening ceremony of the celebration. The monks of Shaolin Temple staged an amazing Shaolin kung fu show, blowing the audience away. The artworks of Guo Aihe, a 53-year-old ceramist master and the founder of Sancai, or tri-colored glaze painting, were greatly admired by the locals at the ceremony.

The annual celebration in Nagoya, organized by the local Chinese community and boasting a history of 11 years, is the largest, longest-running and most influential activity marking Spring Festival in Japan. This year, a record number of booths — 78 — were set up around the square, selling traditional Chinese cuisine including dumplings, sugar-coated haws and others. The celebration for the Chinese New Year has gained increasing popularity among local people, with the number of visitors exceeding 140,000 last year.

The celebration in Nagoya has become an important platform for local people to learn more about Chinese culture and promote mutual understanding and cultural exchanges between central Japan and China.