Events
August 2025
Thematic Exhibition: A Fantastic Exhibition
Fans are one of the seasonal motifs connected to summer often featured in Japanese art. In this exhibition we display artworks and crafts from Nagasaki featuring fan motifs.
Dates: July 1 (Tue) – August 31 (Sun), 2025
Place: 2F Permanent Exhibition Gallery
Time: 8:30-19:00 (last admission 18:30)
Fee: included in the Permanent Exhibition ticket
Machiya Corner: Obon
Decorations and dishes connected with Obon, a summer ritual honoring the spirits of the deceased, are displayed in the Machiya corner, which reproduces a Nagasaki’s merchant house from the Edo period. Check the full Machiya calendar here.
Dates: July 23 (Wed) – August 17 (Sun), 2025
Place: 2F Permanent Exhibition Gallery
Time: 8:30-19:00 (last admission 18:30)
Fee: included in the Permanent Exhibition ticket
The 20th Nagasaki Magistrate’s Office Summer Festival
Enjoy the atmosphere of a classic Japanese summer festival, with food stalls, games and stage events.
Date: August 2 (Sat), 2025
Time: 16:30-20:30
Place: Event Square
*In case of rain, 1F Entrance Hall
Monthly Workshop: Old Map Envelopes and Flake Stickers
Make stickers from the Museum’s treasures, its original characters, or your own drawings. Take them home in an envelope made from the copy of an old map. Anyone can join.
Date: August 3 (Sun), 2025
Time: 13:30-15:30
Place: 1F Entrance
Fee: 200 yen
*No prior registration needed.
Museum Summer Concert
Enjoy a koto performance by high school students.
Dates: August 11 (Mon), 2025
Time: 11:00 (doors open 10:30)
Place: 1F Entrance
Fee: free
Make a Paper Lantern Ghost
An event related to the special exhibition “Ghosts, Demons & Yōkai in Ukiyo-e Masterpieces”. Anyone can join.
Date: August 17 (Sun), 2025
Time: 13:30-16:00 *Or until materials last.
Place: 1F Entrance
Fee: 200 yen
*No prior registration needed.
Machiya Corner: Mid-Autumn Festival
Decorations and dishes connected with the Mid-Autumn Festival, which today falls around September 15th, are displayed in the Machiya corner, which reproduces a Nagasaki’s merchant house from the Edo period. Check the full Machiya calendar here.
Dates: August 19 (Tue) – September 15 (Mon), 2025
Place: 2F Permanent Exhibition Gallery
Time: 8:30-19:00 (last admission 18:30)
Fee: included in the Permanent Exhibition ticket
September 2025
Thematic Exhibition: 391 Years of Kunchi
Experience the history and the appeal of the Nagasaki Kunchi Festival through pictures depicting the festivities and exhibits related to this year’s Odori-chō (performing districts).
Dates: September 3 (Wed) – October 13 (Mon), 2025
Place: 2F Permanent Exhibition Gallery
Time: 8:30-19:00 (last admission 18:30)
Fee: included in the Permanent Exhibition ticket
Machiya Corner: Kunchi Festival
Decorations and dishes connected with the Nagasaki Kunchi (October 7-9), the great autumn festival of Suwa Shrine, are displayed in the Machiya corner, which reproduces a Nagasaki’s merchant house from the Edo period. Check the full Machiya calendar here.
Dates: September 17 (Wed) – October 19 (Sun), 2025
Place: 2F Permanent Exhibition Gallery
Time: 8:30-19:00 (last admission 18:30)
Fee: included in the Permanent Exhibition ticket
Monthly Workshop: Aogai-zaiku Straps with Shrink Plastic
Aogai-zaiku are lacquerwares inlaid with mother-of-pearl, traditionally produced in Nagasaki in the Edo period. Use black shrink plastic to create straps resembling aogai-zaiku. Anyone can join.
Date: September 28 (Sun), 2025
Time: 13:30-15:30
Place: 1F Entrance Hall
Fee: 200 yen
*No prior registration needed.
Year-round
Costume dramas in the Nagasaki Magistrate’s Office
Inside the reconstructed Nagasaki Magistrate’s Office, museum volunteers recreate trials from the Edo period (1603-1868). The skits are based on the Hankachō, historical records of criminal cases judged by the Nagasaki magistrates.
Dates: every Sunday
Place: 2F Permanent Exhibition Gallery, inside The Japanese Government of Nagasaki Zone
Time: 11:00, 13:30, 14:30, 15:30 (duration about 20 min.)
Fee: included in the Permanent Exhibition ticket