Nagasaki Hidden Gems
17 spots
Oura Catholic Church — Japan's Oldest Surviving Church
Built in 1864 by French missionary Father Petitjean, Oura Church is the oldest surviving Christian church in Japan and a…
Gunkanjima (Battleship Island) — Abandoned Concrete Dystopia
Hashima Island, universally known as Gunkanjima (Battleship Island) for its silhouette resembling a warship, is a 6.3-he…
Nagasaki Peace Park & Atomic Bomb Museum
At 11:02 on August 9, 1945, a plutonium bomb detonated 500 meters above the Urakami Valley, instantly killing an estimat…
Goto Islands — Remote Christian Pilgrimage Churches
The Goto Islands, a 100km-long archipelago 100km west of Nagasaki in the East China Sea, were the final refuge of Japan'…
Glover Garden — Western Mansions on the Hillside
Glover Garden preserves nine Western-style mansions from Nagasaki's treaty port era (1859–1899), clustered on a terraced…
Hirado Castle — Sea Castle of the Christian Daimyo
Hirado Castle occupies a forested peninsula surrounded on three sides by the Hirado Strait, commanding views of both the…
Shimabara Castle & Christian Rebellion Site
Shimabara Castle (1625) stands on the site of the Shimabara Rebellion (1637–1638) — the largest armed uprising in Edo-pe…
Nagasaki Chinatown — Oldest in Japan
Nagasaki Shinchi Chinatown is Japan's oldest Chinatown, established in the 1690s when the Tokugawa shogunate designated…
Hasami Porcelain — Modern Ceramics from a 400-Year Kiln Town
Hasami Town, adjacent to Arita but in Nagasaki Prefecture, has produced porcelain for 400 years using the same clay sour…
Megane-bashi (Spectacles Bridge) — Japan's Oldest Stone Arch
Megane-bashi ('Spectacles Bridge') is a double-arched stone bridge built in 1634 by the Chinese monk Mokusunyoujo — the…
Iki Island — Barley Shochu & Ancient Burial Mounds
Iki Island (138 km²) in the Genkai Sea produces 50% of Japan's barley shochu (mugi-jochu) — the island's volcanic soil a…
Hirado Xavier Memorial Church & Temple Next Door
Hirado Xavier Memorial Church (1931) stands on the exact spot where Francis Xavier preached in 1550 during his first mis…
Sofukuji Temple — Zen Buddhism Meets Chinese Architecture
Sofukuji is a Chinese-style Zen temple established in 1629 by Chinese residents of Nagasaki, built in the Ming Dynasty a…
Huis Ten Bosch — Dutch Theme Park in Kyushu
Huis Ten Bosch is a 152-hectare recreation of a Dutch town, built in 1992 at a cost of ¥225 billion as a resort destinat…
Dejima — The Only Window to the West for 200 Years
Dejima was an artificial fan-shaped island built in 1636 to confine Portuguese traders, and later (1641–1859) served as…
Shimabara Spring Water Swimming Carp Streets
Shimabara City's residential streets flow with crystal-clear spring water emerging from underground volcanic aquifers be…
Hirado Dutch Trading Post (Hirado Oranda Shokan)
Before Dejima, the Dutch East India Company maintained its Japan headquarters in Hirado from 1609 to 1641. The reconstru…