Nagasaki Chinatown — Oldest in Japan

Nagasaki Shinchi Chinatown is Japan's oldest Chinatown, established in the 1690s when the Tokugawa shogunate designated a specific quarter for Chinese merchants during the sakoku isolation period. The district is 250 meters square with four ornamental gates marking the cardinal directions. Unlike Yokohama or Kobe Chinatowns (established much later for tourist commerce), Shinchi remains a genuine residential and business district for the descendants of Chinese traders.

The food focus is Nagasaki's Chinese-influenced specialties: champon and sara udon (already mentioned), plus kakuni manju (braised pork belly buns), hattendo (sweet milk buns), and the annual Lantern Festival displays.