What other travelers are saying about Confucius Shrine (Koshi-byo)
The entrance fee is quite high (¥660), but decided to go because I was curious to learn more about the history of Confucianism and Chinese influence in Nagasaki. But, the museum is only in Japanese. The temple itself is beautiful, but if you've seen many Confucius temples before and cannot speak or read Japanese, I doubt you will get much out of this visit. I wouldn't recommend going.
It is a beautifully restored Chinese Shrine. There is a small museum at the back. All signage is in Chinese and Japanese, but there is a leaflet in English that is given to foreign visitors upon entry. It is pretty informative. The visit costs 660¥.
The Confucian Shrine was constructed in 1893 and is the only one of its kind to have been built outside China. There is also a museum which showcases Chinese national cultural treasures.
I enjoyed visiting this shrine and the museum behind it. It's worth a look for the collection of photos and glassware and of course to take in the interior of the shrine itself.
I very interesting, beautiful Confucius shrine. I won't forget the Yuza-no-ki cup, designed to remain stable when moderately filled but tip over if filled excessively; it serves as a powerful symbol of balance and moderation. Confucius, the first great thinker to advocate moderation, promoted the Doctrine of the Mean, which emphasizes harmony through a balanced path and warns against extremes. Just as the cup spills when overfilled, Confucius’s teaching reminds us that excess disrupts harmony and leads to instability.
The museum offers beautiful artifacts, many on loan from mainland China. Even though there very little in terms of explanations in English, I appreciated some beautiful applied art objects.
