Shikairou
Nagasaki's oldest Chinese restaurant, and the place where champon was invented in 1899.
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Shikairou
SaveNagasaki's oldest Chinese restaurant, and the place where champon was invented in 1899.
A bowl of champon is pork and chicken broth loaded with local seafood and vegetables; saraudon started here too.
MoreWhat kind of place
Shikairou is the oldest Chinese restaurant in Nagasaki: its founder, Chin Heijun, put together the first bowl of champon here in 1899, and saraudon came out of the same kitchen.
It moved to Matsugae-machi in 1973, which puts it at the bottom of the slope on the Glover Garden side rather than inside Shinchi Chinatown.
The building has five floors, with the souvenir shop at street level, private dining rooms above, and a top-floor restaurant whose sea-facing wall is all glass.
That shop stays open from 10:00 to 17:30 without a break, so champon noodles can still be bought during the two hours the restaurant itself is shut.
Sources and evidence (13)
- Closing days are not fixed to one weekday; about two Wednesdays a month are announced month by month, such as August 5 and 19 in 2026 and September 2 and 16, so you have to check the notice for the month you are going.source
- It opened in 1899 in Hiromaba-machi and moved to its present site in Matsugae-machi in 1973, making it the oldest Chinese restaurant in Nagasaki, and the building standing now dates from 1973 or later.source
- Champon was devised in 1899 by the restaurant's founder, Chin Heijun, so this is the place the dish itself came from.source
- Saraudon comes in two forms, thick noodles griddled and left to soak up the sauce or thin noodles fried until crisp, and you pick one when ordering, so the thick version is the one to ask for if crunchy noodles are difficult for a child.source
- The restaurant's website prints its text in Japanese, Chinese and English together on the history, champon and saraudon pages.source
- The building has five floors: the souvenir shop on the first, a free champon museum on the second, rooms used as private dining on the third and fourth, and a fifth-floor dining room with a full glass wall on the sea side.source
- The second-floor champon museum turns up on the city tourism site, on a picture book museum's blog, and in articles written for families, but does not appear once across the eight pages of the restaurant's own site.source
- On the city tourism site's accessibility page, six icons are lit for this restaurant, covering parking, accessible parking, a step-free entrance, automatic doors, a wheelchair-accessible elevator and an accessible restroom, while the three baby-care icons, stroller lending and ramps are gray; this was read by comparing the color saturation of the 19 icons with the same page for another local business.source
- Children's dishes and children's chopsticks are brought out, according to that same July 2024 account.source
- The same visitor noted that a number of other families with babies were there, and that coming with a baby is no trouble.source
- A review from a visit in January 2017 says the staff brought out a child's chair for them.source
- An article written for families also mentions that children's chairs and the like are on hand, though it lists dinner as 17:00 to 21:00 against the current 17:00 to 20:00, so it may be out of date.source
- A May 2022 account of a private-room dinner with a 6-year-old and a 2-year-old describes a large room where staff told them it was fine if the children ran around.source
With kidsThe part that matters
Champon was invented here in 1899: a bowl of chicken and pork broth loaded with Nagasaki seafood and vegetables.
Saraudon comes two ways, thick noodles left to soften under the sauce or thin ones fried crisp, and you say which when you order, so ask for the thick ones if crunchy noodles are hard work for a child.
You can wheel a stroller straight in, the elevators are on the roomy side, and children's dishes and chopsticks come to the table.
Tables cannot be reserved here at all, by phone, app or booking site, so the arrival time is the only thing you control: one family walked in at noon after a ten-minute wait and found a long line by the time they left.
Lunch stops seating at 2:30 and earlier when it is busy, and the kitchen then shuts until 5:00, so turning up late means waiting out two hours before dinner.
Sources and evidence (4)
- Down the hill from Glover Garden. Told a two-hour wait, but tables turn fast and it was just over an hour.source
- Noon with a 3- and 4-year-old: a ten-minute wait, an elevator wide enough for the stroller, child bowls and chopsticks.source
- Private rooms are the only bookable seats, course menu only: 4,840 yen a head, each dish plated individually.source
- Oura and Glover are all slopes. By evening the six-year-old sat down and they took a taxi back. Plan the tram legs.source
By age0-1 / 2-3 / 4-6
- Ages 0-1You can bring the stroller inside, and the elevators are roomy enough to take it up to the dining floor. The dining room is on the fifth floor, where the sea-facing wall is all glass, so the harbour is in view from the table. A family who came with a 3-year-old and a 4-year-old wrote that plenty of other babies were there too.Reservations are not taken at all — not by website, app or booking agent — so you queue on the day. One family got in at noon after a ten-minute wait and found a long line by the time they left. There is one diaper changing table on the fourth floor, and the multipurpose restroom is on that same floor. On the city tourism site's barrier-free page, baby care facilities and stroller loan are both marked as not available here. Lunch stops seating at 14:30, and earlier on busy days.
- Ages 2-3Children's tableware, children's chopsticks and a child's chair are brought out. Saraudon comes two ways and you choose when you order, so for a child who cannot chew the crisp thin noodles you can ask for the thick ones, softened with the sauce.The broth for both champon and saraudon is chicken and pork bone, and no allergy labelling is published. Lunch runs 11:30-15:00 and dinner 17:00-20:00, with the restaurant shut in between, so missing lunch means a two-hour gap. Coming before noon, around the nap rather than into it, gets you fed in the lunch service.
- Ages 4-6Champon was invented here in 1899 by the founder, Chin Heijun, and saraudon started here too, so you are sitting where the bowl in front of you was first made — a story a child this age can hold on to. They can also pick their own saraudon noodles, thick or thin.Private rooms are booked by phone or fax at least two business days ahead, for four or more people and only with a course meal (tel 095-822-1296, fax 095-826-7353, enquiries 10:00-17:00). A family with a 6-year-old and a 2-year-3-month-old was told in one of those large rooms that the children could run around. Closing days are about two Wednesdays a month, announced month by month, so check the notice for the month you are going.
By weatherRain, heat, cold
- Rainy dayThe souvenir shop on the first floor, the free Champon Museum on the second, and the fifth-floor restaurant with its sea-facing glass wall are all inside the same five-story building, and two elevators reach every floor.
- Hot dayNot checked yet
- Cold dayNot checked yet
Time needed1 h
How was it with your kids?
Not greatGreat
- ElevatorElevator：with conditionsconditions
- Stroller OKStroller friendly：with conditionsconditions
- RentalStroller rental：not checked
- NursingNursing space：not checked
- ChangingDiaper changing table：with conditionsconditions
- Family WCFamily restroom：with conditionsconditions
- Own foodOutside food allowed：not checked
- EnglishEnglish support：not checked
* Other not checked (8)
Diaper disposal bin, Kids' toilet seat & step stool, Kids' menu, Tatami seating, Baby food policy, Non-smoking, Allergy support, Child entry policy
Green = we confirmed it. Gray = not checked yet. Gray with a line through = the place does not have it.
Worth a look before you go
Japanese · opens translatedFirst-hand
Down the hill from Glover Garden. Told a two-hour wait, but tables turn fast and it was just over an hour.
Glover Garden, then champon at Shikairou (July 2021)
Japanese · opens translatedFirst-hand
Noon with a 3- and 4-year-old: a ten-minute wait, an elevator wide enough for the stroller, child bowls and chopsticks.
Nagasaki with a 3- and 4-year-old, part 2: Glover Garden, then lunch nearby
Japanese · opens translatedFirst-hand
Private rooms are the only bookable seats, course menu only: 4,840 yen a head, each dish plated individually.
Nagasaki 2: a big private room at Shikairou with a 6-year-old and a 2-year-old
Japanese · opens translatedFirst-hand
Oura and Glover are all slopes. By evening the six-year-old sat down and they took a taxi back. Plan the tram legs.
Walking the hill city: Golden Week in Nagasaki with elementary-school children
Shikairou · Links & reads ▾
Where to go next
- Nagasaki Penguin AquariumPenguin aquariumStroller friendlyNursing spaceDiaper changing table7.4 kmAn aquarium keeping nine of the world's eighteen penguin species.
- Glover GardenHistoric hillside garden of Western housesNursing spaceElevatorFamily restroom5 min walkA hillside garden of nine Western houses above Nagasaki harbor.
Piggyback Japan guides
- Is It Actually Open? How Japan Announces Closures
Closing days in Japan are often set one month at a time, posted in Japanese on the official site. The trip planner you used probably never read them.
Where it is
Before you go
- The restaurant takes no reservations at all, and none through websites, apps, or booking agencies either, so the only way in is to line up on the day.source
- There is no way to hold a table from overseas, since the website, the apps and the booking agencies are all closed off; it comes down to standing in line at the door.source
- Private rooms are by reservation only, made by phone or fax at least two business days ahead, for parties of four or more ordering a course menu, so a family walking in with young children cannot use one.source
- Reservation inquiries are taken from 10:00 to 17:00 by phone at 095-822-1296 or fax at 095-826-7353.source
- Lunch runs 11:30 to 15:00 with last seating at 14:30, and the restaurant states outright that seating can close earlier when it is crowded, so assume that arriving after 2:00 will be too late.source
More notes (1)
- The broth for both signature dishes is made from chicken bones and pork bones, so a family that does not eat pork or chicken cannot order champon or saraudon, and no allergen information is published.source
Basics
- Fee：No prices are published anywhere on the official site - all eight pages carry the history of champon and saraudon but no menu and no figures. Budget cannot be given from the official source.source
- Hours：Lunch 11:30-15:00 (last entry 14:30) and dinner 17:00-20:00 (last entry 19:30). Last entry moves earlier when it is busy, so arriving in the 14:00 hour may not get you in. The restaurant is shut between 15:00 and 17:00. The first-floor shop keeps different hours, 10:00-17:30, and stays open through that gap. Closing days are not a fixed weekday: roughly two Wednesdays a month, announced month by month (5 and 19 August 2026; 2 and 16 September).source
- Time to allow：1 h
- Booking：The restaurant takes no reservations at all, and bookings through websites, apps or reservation agencies are refused without exception. There is no way to hold a table from abroad; you queue on the day. The only exception is a private room, which must be arranged by phone (095-822-1296) or fax (095-826-7353) at least two business days ahead, for four people or more, and only with a set course ordered. Inquiries are taken 10:00-17:00.source
Basics in detail (6)
- Dinner runs 17:00 to 20:00 with last seating at 19:30, and the restaurant is shut between 15:00 and 17:00, so missing lunch leaves a two-hour gap.source
- The first-floor shop is the one part that stays open straight through, 10:00 to 17:30, so champon noodles and other souvenirs can still be bought from 15:00 to 17:00 while the restaurant is closed.source
- That family got in at noon after a 10-minute wait and saw a long line by the time they left, which is why they suggest being inside by noon.source
- The address is 4-5 Matsugae-machi, Nagasaki 850-0921, which puts it not in Shinchi Chinatown but at the foot of the slope on the Oura and Glover Garden side of town.source
- The paid parking on the building's own lot includes accessible spaces, and customers who eat or shop are given a two-hour parking voucher.source
- That private-room course came to 4,840 yen a person and the dishes were served in individual portions rather than on shared platters, recorded in May 2022, so it should not be taken as today's price.source
Once you've decided
evidence & sources (8)
- at-nagasaki.jp: Family restroom, Elevator, Indoor / outdoor
- mamamap.jp: Diaper changing table
- Official: Private room
- jalan.net: High chair
- Official: main site
Champon was invented here in 1899, for Chinese students living in Nagasaki, on pork and chicken broth with whatever the local sea and hills gave. Saraudon came out of the same kitchen, and comes two ways: soft thick noodles in sauce, or thin ones fried crisp. Order the thick ones for a child who cannot manage hard noodles. Lunch stops taking guests at 14:30, earlier when busy, so arrive before 14:00. From 15:00 to 17:00 the dining room shuts; the first-floor shop stays open to 17:30.
| Stroller friendly | Yes | You can bring the stroller in and take the elevator up to the dining floors. | Web-checked | checked Aug ’26 | momtips365.com |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diaper changing table | Yes | One changing table, on the 4th floor. | Web-checked | checked Aug ’26 | mamamap.jp |
| Nursing space | Not checked yet | ||||
| Family restroom | Yes | The accessible multipurpose restroom is on the 4th floor. | Web-checked | checked Aug ’26 | at-nagasaki.jp |
| Diaper disposal bin | Not checked yet | ||||
| Kids' toilet seat & step stool | Not checked yet | ||||
| Elevator | Yes | Two elevators serve all floors, so you do not carry the stroller up the stairs. | Web-checked | checked Aug ’26 | at-nagasaki.jp |
| Indoor / outdoor | Indoor | Dining rooms are on floors 3-5; the sea side of the 5th floor is fully glazed, overlooking Nagasaki port. | Web-checked | checked Aug ’26 | at-nagasaki.jp |
| Outside food allowed | Not checked yet | ||||
| English support | Not checked yet | ||||
| Private room | Yes | Private rooms exist but are reservation-only: at least two business days ahead, four people or more, and only with a set course ordered. They cannot be taken on the day, so they are not a fallback for a family that turns up with a baby. | Web-checked | checked Aug ’26 | shikairou.com |
| High chair | Yes | Chairs for small children are provided. | Web-checked | checked Aug ’26 | jalan.net |
| Kids' menu | Not checked yet | ||||
| Kids' tableware | Yes | Children's dishes and child-size chopsticks are brought to the table. | Web-checked | checked Aug ’26 | momtips365.com |
| Tatami seating | Not checked yet | ||||
| Baby food policy | Not checked yet | ||||
| Non-smoking | Not checked yet | ||||
| Allergy support | Not checked yet | ||||
| Child entry policy | Not checked yet |