NAGOYA, Japan, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- A three-day celebration for the upcoming Chinese Spring Festival kicked off Saturday in central Japanese city of Nagoya.

The celebration was held on Hisaya Square in downtown Nagoya, where red lanterns and flags were hung high and people cheered in a festival atmosphere.

A record high of 78 booths were set up around the square, selling traditional Chinese cuisine, including dumplings, sugar-coated haws and others.

A number of Chinese and Japanese artists performed on a spectacular stage set up at one end of the square, including face-changing stunt of Sichuan opera, acrobatics and lion dances.

"Spring Festival is a traditional holiday in China to celebrate the Lunar New Year. It is hoped that the festival celebrations here would promote mutual understanding and friendship between people in China and Japan," said Deng Wei, Chinese consul general in Nagoya.

He added that as 2018 marks the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between China and Japan, the two countries could take this opportunity to further enhance communications and make new contributions to improvement of bilateral relations.

Ichiro Hirosawa, vice mayor of Nagoya city, said the Spring Festival celebrations here have attracted a large number of visitors from Nagoya and neighboring areas and provide good opportunities for Japanese people to get in touch with traditional Chinese culture.

As this year also marks the 40th anniversary for sister cities between Nagoya and China's Nanjing, friendship between the two sides could be further deepened at this significant juncture, he added.

Overseas Chinese have been holding Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations in Nagoya since 2007. The celebration has become an important platform for local people to learn more about Chinese culture and promote mutual understanding and cultural exchanges between central Japan and China.