kyushunagasaki
Nagasaki
Nagasaki is a harbour city on the west coast of Kyushu, the capital of Nagasaki Prefecture in the Kyushu region, which for more than two centuries was Japan's only door to Europe.
Nagasaki harbour from Mount Inasa
- Prefecture
- Nagasaki
- Region
- Kyushu
- Journeys
- The Custom Tour of Japan
overview
A city of hills around a deep harbour, where Japan first met the West.
Nagasaki was a fishing village until 1571, when its deep, sheltered harbour was opened to Portuguese ships. Jesuit missionaries followed, and for a generation it was the most Christian city in Asia. When the Tokugawa shogunate banned the faith and closed the country, it confined the Dutch to Dejima, a small fan-shaped island built in the harbour, and the Chinese to a walled quarter of their own. From 1641 to 1859 these were Japan's only sanctioned windows on the outside world, and through them came medicine, astronomy, firearms, printing, and words that are still in the language.
When Japan reopened, foreign merchants built their houses on the slopes above the harbour, and shipyards and coal mines made Nagasaki one of the engines of the country's modernisation. That history is now recognised twice by UNESCO: in the Sites of Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution, inscribed in 2015, and in the Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region, inscribed in 2018, which honour the communities who kept their faith in secret for some 250 years.
At 11.02 in the morning on 9 August 1945, an atomic bomb exploded over the Urakami district in the north of the city. By the end of that year some 74,000 people had died. The Peace Park, the hypocentre and the Atomic Bomb Museum stand there now, and a visit to them is the centre of any serious day in Nagasaki.
The city that rebuilt is warm, compact and beautiful, climbing steep hills on three sides of the water. Its food carries the whole of its history: champon noodles from the Chinese quarter, castella sponge cake from the Portuguese, and shippoku, a banquet of Japanese, Chinese and European dishes served at a round table.
Our tours stay overnightOur tours visit for the dayOn a Custom Tour of Japan
see and do
What to see in Nagasaki
Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum
Opened in 1996 near the hypocentre, the museum sets out the day of the bombing and what followed, through the objects that survived it: a wall clock stopped at 11.02, melted glass and roof tiles, photographs, and the testimony of survivors. It closes with the history of nuclear weapons since, and the case for their abolition.
Hypocentre Park
A quiet park on the point above which the bomb exploded, marked by a black stone column. Beside it stand a fragment of the wall of the old Urakami Cathedral, moved here from the ruins, and a layer of excavated earth still carrying the debris of the day.
The Peace Park
A long park on the hill to the north of the hypocentre, where the Peace Statue by the sculptor Seibo Kitamura, completed in 1955, sits nearly ten metres tall, its right hand pointing to the sky and its left stretched out level for peace. The Fountain of Peace remembers the victims who died begging for water.
Nagasaki National Peace Memorial Hall
A hall of remembrance opened in 2003 beside the museum, largely underground, where the names of the victims are kept in a hall of light and the memoirs of survivors may be read and heard.
Urakami Cathedral
The cathedral of the Christian community of Urakami, which had kept its faith in secret for generations. It stood some five hundred metres from the hypocentre and was destroyed; the present building of 1959 was rebuilt on the same site, and one of the original bells hangs again in its tower.
Dejima
The artificial island where the Dutch East India Company traded from 1641 to 1859. The warehouses, residences and offices of the Dutch are being rebuilt on their original plan, and a footbridge again crosses to the island as the original once did.
Glover Garden
The houses of the foreign merchants on the hill above the harbour, among them the Glover House of 1863, the oldest surviving Western-style wooden building in Japan and part of the Meiji Industrial Revolution World Heritage Site. The terraces look straight down over the port and the shipyards.
Oura Church
The oldest standing church in Japan, built in 1864 for the foreign community and a National Treasure. In 1865 a group of hidden Christians from Urakami came to it and told the French priest that they shared his faith, the moment remembered as the Discovery of the Hidden Christians.
The Twenty-Six Martyrs Monument
A memorial on Nishizaka hill to the twenty-six Christians, Japanese and European, crucified here in 1597 on the orders of Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The bronze relief of 1962 is accompanied by a small museum and a church by the architect Imai Kenji.
Sofuku-ji and Megane-bashi
Sofuku-ji, a Chinese temple of the Obaku Zen school founded in 1629, has a Ming-style gate and halls that are National Treasures. Below it, Megane-bashi, the Spectacles Bridge of 1634, is one of the oldest stone arch bridges in Japan, its two arches doubled in the Nakashima River to make a pair of spectacles.
Mount Inasa
A ropeway climbs to the summit, 333 metres above the city, for the view of the whole harbour and the hills around it, and again after dark, when the lights run down to the water on every side.
Hashima (Gunkanjima)
A small island off the coast, once a coal mine and at its height among the most densely populated places on earth, abandoned in 1974 and now a wall of empty concrete rising from the sea. Its history includes the wartime labour of conscripted Korean and Chinese workers. Boats carry visitors out to see the island and, when the sea allows, to land on its walkways.
Shinchi Chinatown
One of the three historic Chinatowns of Japan, a few streets of red lanterns and restaurants near the harbour, where Nagasaki champon and sara udon are at home.
experiences
The best of Nagasaki
Urakami, with a guide
A morning at the Atomic Bomb Museum, the hypocentre, Urakami Cathedral and the Peace Park, accompanied by a guide who can give the history its weight and the visit its quiet. Time to reflect is part of the day.
The story of the hidden Christians
Oura Church, the Twenty-Six Martyrs, and a drive north to the coast of Sotome, where the villages of the World Heritage Site kept their faith hidden for 250 years, told by a specialist in the history.
A shippoku dinner
Nagasaki's own banquet, served in a private room around a round table, dish after dish shared in the Chinese manner and drawing on all three of the city's traditions.
The harbour by night
The ropeway to the summit of Mount Inasa after dinner, for the lights of the city spread around the harbour below.
plan your visit
Nagasaki on a journey through Japan
- How long to stay
- Two nights lets Nagasaki be seen properly: a day for Urakami and the Peace Park, a day for Dejima, the foreign settlement and the harbour, and an evening on Mount Inasa.
- Getting there
- From Hakata, the relay express to Takeo-Onsen and the Nishi-Kyushu Shinkansen onward reach Nagasaki in about an hour and twenty minutes. Flights from Tokyo take about two hours, and Nagasaki Airport is about forty minutes from the city by car.
- Pairs well with
- Nagasaki fits a journey across Kyushu: Fukuoka is the gateway, Arita and its porcelain lie on the way, and Kumamoto, Kurokawa Onsen and Beppu carry the journey east across the island.FukuokaAritaKumamotoKurokawa OnsenBeppu
journeys
Nagasaki on a private journey
We bring guests to Nagasaki on the Custom Tour of Japan, created around your party alone, on your dates, with your own Tour Director.
questions
Nagasaki: questions answered
How many days do you need in Nagasaki?
Two nights, so that the Peace Park and Atomic Bomb Museum have a day of their own, with a second day for Dejima, Glover Garden, Oura Church and the harbour.
Is Nagasaki worth visiting?
Yes. No other Japanese city carries this history: the Dutch at Dejima, the hidden Christians, and the atomic bombing of 1945. It is also a beautiful harbour city with food of its own.
How do you get from Fukuoka to Nagasaki?
By train from Hakata Station, changing at Takeo-Onsen to the Nishi-Kyushu Shinkansen, about an hour and twenty minutes in all. By car it is about two hours.
How long should you spend at the Atomic Bomb Museum?
About an hour and a half for the museum, and half a day with the hypocentre, the Peace Memorial Hall, Urakami Cathedral and the Peace Park, which are all within walking distance.
Can you visit Gunkanjima?
Yes. Licensed boats leave from Nagasaki harbour, and the visit takes about three hours; landing on the island's walkways depends on the sea on the day.
What food is Nagasaki known for?
Champon, a noodle soup with seafood and vegetables, sara udon, castella sponge cake, and shippoku, a banquet that brings together Japanese, Chinese and European cooking.
What are the World Heritage Sites in Nagasaki?
Nagasaki belongs to two: the Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region, which include Oura Church, and the Sites of Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution, which include Glover House, the shipyards and Hashima.
Can Nagasaki be part of a private tour of Japan?
Yes. The Custom Tour of Japan is created around your party alone, on your dates, with your own Tour Director, and it can go anywhere in the country, Nagasaki included. If you would rather travel independently, the Expert Japan Itinerary plans every day for you.
kyushu
More in Kyushu
Nagasaki, planned for you.
Tell us when you would like to travel and what draws you to Nagasaki, and we will answer with a Custom Tour of Japan created around your party alone, or, if you would rather travel independently, an Expert Japan Itinerary that plans every day for you.