Chinese Spring Festival (Lunar New Year)
Don’t feel discouraged if you haven’t been sticking to your 2026 resolutions. According to the lunar calendar, we still have a few more days before we officially enter the 2026 new year, which begins on February 18. If you want to celebrate the year of the fire horse in Japan, there are few better places to visit than Yokohama Chinatown, which has observed Chinese Spring Festival traditions since 1986.
Starting from 2022, the festivities are held concurrently with dazzling displays of colourful lanterns based on Chinese zodiac animals from January 20, installed in 60-odd locations throughout Yokohama, including Yokohama Red Brick Warehouse, Bashamichi Station and Yamashitacho Park in the heart of Chinatown.
This year’s festivities kick off with a Lunar New Year midnight countdown at Yamashitacho Park on February 16. Celebrations continue through February 17, with live performances, food pop-ups and glowing lantern displays. Here are the highlights to look forward to.
February 17 (Tue), 4pm: a key ritual of Lunar New Year celebrations, the afternoon is marked by a neighbourhood-wide Cai Qing lion dance, in which the lion plucks and 'eats' hanging greens to symbolically claim prosperity, overcome obstacles and bless the neighbourhood with good fortune.
February 21 (Sat), 4.30pm: the Shukumai-yuko procession will begin at Yamashitacho Park, where a dazzling ensemble of lion dancers, rickshaws carrying people dressed as famous Chinese emperors, and other performing artists...