But Nagasaki seemed like a great place to live. There’s great food (though this is true of just about every city in Japan) - try the Saraudon for dinner in Chinatown after spending the day strolling round the city and taking in the sights at one of the many scenic spots. Check out Glover Garden, where some of the first western merchants to Japan built their mansions, or maybe watch the sunset from the top of Mt. Inasa (you can get a ropeway up there - if you go around sunset, stay around until it starts to get dark and you can see the lights, like jewels, around the harbour). 

Nagasaki has quite a strong European influence - a friend of mine I was travelling with from New Orleans said one street reminded him of the townhouses in the French Quarter - which makes it an interesting place to just stroll around, and it is just small enough to get around on by foot, though there are quite a few hills involved, which itself makes it a more interesting and attractive city. And if you’re travelling on a budget, try the Nagasaki Hostel Akari - the rooms are basic, but the people that run it are very friendly, and it is in a nice area along the Nakashima river where all the stone bridges are.

So go visit Nagasaki - it’s lovely!

Torii gate is decorated in New Year celebration style.

This is the normal style :>

More information here (Japanese, but with many images)

Access

From Hakata Station (Fukuoka) , 2 hours to Nagasaki station by JR express train, transfer to Shimabara Tetsudo with another half an hour to Chijiwa, Unzen.
Let me note that Unzen is a wonderful Onsen (hot spring) spot with rich food culture and beautiful scenery, surrounded by sea and mountains.

*I appreciate Tanaka-san in Unzen City, for providing me these photes and information.

Several stations from Nagasaki Station (JR) by Shimabara Line, you’ll arrive at Unzen-Shimabara area.

Obama onsen (hotspring) near Unzen is `Sea side hotspring’ with the hottest hotspring of 100 degree centigrade, and plenty of hotspring, 15,000 tons of hotspring per day !

On the sea hotspring.

The best way to enjoy Obama Onsen is to stay Ryokan(Japanese inn) attached to hotspring, for couple of days.

Syunyoukan Ryokan, Retro Japanese style.

This is also old Japanese style, Kunisaki Ryokan.

There are several more, most have ocean view!
(You can also enjoy beautiful sunset.)

Obama Champon noodle, full of seafood.
Soup is made of hotspring water.

Beautiful scenery of Tachibana gulf.

World largest Torii (Shinto Shrine’s gate) in Chijiwa.

What you can do here is,

1. Pearl-picking

Choose one of the pearl oysters,
Carefully, pick up the pearl.

Now the pearl is yours!
(Pearl picking is for 500 yen. You can ask for fixing it to a pendant for additional 2,000 yen.)

2. `Pearl Queen’ Cruising

1,200 yen for adults, 600 yen for children (up to 6th grade).

Or if you’re to bring your children, why not try Pirate Ship, `Kaizoku-sen‘, which has more entertainment? (the same price).

3. Explore an aquarium which has sea creatures and international ship models.

How friendly he is!

Besides, you can enjoy yacht, sailing and kayaking.

ACCESS

From Tokyo
Tokyo -<1′35” by airplane>-Nagasaki, 14 flights a day
From Nagasaki airport, take JR express train, ship `Ocean Line’ or Highway bus.

From Fukuoka
Take JR express train `Midori’ to Sasebo station(1′50”). 16 rails a day.

*Let me add that Last Samurai (the film) has 99-Islands scene, with Tom Cruise sailing on the yacht.

For your own tour arrangement including this spot, please contact me, thank you.

Itsukishima is part of Hirato city, Nagasaki, and is placed in the west end of Kyushu island.  It takes four hours from Fukuoka city, but is absolutely beautiful. The reason why the sea is so blue and transparent is because this is not the place to swim. 

To remember the tragedy of war, to decide not to make that happen again, praying for the eternal world peace, there are two memorial parks, Ground Zero (the hypocenter park) and Peace Park.

1. Ground Zero (the hypocenter park)

500 metre above this black stick, the a-bomb was exploded.
Buildings and people were burned out and there was nothing left around this area. It was said that for next 70 years no plants, no flower will be there.

However, today in this peaceful large park, we can see many trees and flowers, and especially in spring, 500 cherry blossom trees are in full bloom.
It’s across Nagasaki Peace Memorial Museum.

2. Peace Park

Peace Park is in Urakami City, 5 minutes by car from Hypocenter.
Before WW2, this place was a prison.
Today it’s a relaxing beautiful park to pray for the peace, with lots of beautiful statues donated from foreign nations.

Peace Statue, the simbol and most popular photo-taking spot of this park.
It is made of bronze (later painted), and the height is 9.7 metres.
The right hand pointing the sky, means the thread of the a-bomb, and the left hand stretching horizontally means eternal world peace.

Quiz: Does he look Westerner or Japanese?
(Answer is at the end of this article.)

This bell was made for victims to rest in peace.

My most favorite statue! Donated by China.

About atomic bomb in Nagasaki

At 11:02 a.m. on August 9, 1945, a single atomic bomb destroyed Nagasaki city. 74,000 people died and 75,000 more people injured instantly, and still there’re survivers suffering from a-bomb affect, such as radio activity.
The reason why the damage of a-bomb was not as large as Hiroshima is owe to Nagasaki’s geography. The shape of Nagasaki city is like a bowl, and the a-bomb exploded above the bowl shaped area, that prevent the damage from spreading around.
Also I should note that a-bomb of Hiroshima was made of uranium, while that of Nagasaki was made of plutonium.

White Light/Black Rain is being a hot issue in Japan, as the first movie describing the straight truth of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, spoken by a-bomb survivers, and was broadcasted in American Cable TV program which have 40 million viewers. See details and check the movie here.

Answer of the Quiz
Both are correct. To simbolize world peace sharing with all mankind, the statue’s face doesn’t belong to any particular nationality.

About Nagasaki

Nagasaki is the only Christian city in Japan, the only International city opened during National Isolation (Samurai Period), the only city having so many `first Western things’, the only city where locals play fireworks in cemeteries, and is one of the two cities experienced a-bomb.

Today Nagasaki is a simbol of world peace, with its `christmas-cake-like scenery’, as I call it, for it’s just so sweet!
It’s surrounded by sea and mountains, decorated by Western and Japanese old houses, cathedrals, temples, graves, all mixed in very exotic way,

Not only things to see. Nagasaki is an international food paradice, especially for those who love sweets, Nagasaki should be such a fan! You see, Nagasaki has lots of sweets, thanks to the trading domination in Samurai Period.

For photographers, too, Nagasaki is wonderful. There’re great many photogenic places all over the town, and small island. You can see the dramatic history behind each scene of Nagasaki, which is really something.
Oh, I should note that photo-taking started first in Nagasaki, too !

Please find out where you’d love to visit in Nagasaki
Love Nagasaki Series; view, culture, castle, where to date, drink and shop

Access
Nagasaki is less than 2 hours from Fukuoka(Hakata station) by express train `Kamome’ (6,000 yen for return ticket), and less than 2 hours from Tokyo by plane.

Nagasaki is geographically very unique .
(Nagasaki means long cape. Naga=long, Saki=cape.)

1. It’s surrounded by sea and mountains.
2. It has very small land (I mean, it’s short of flat area.)

So many people live on mountains, which means there’re many houses (and glaves!) on there.

We can easily imagine that their lifestyle is far from being convinient.
I’d say, nice to visit but tough to live.

People need to go up and down slopes and stone stairs, everytime they go out.

See, it’s impossible to ride on a bicycle.

As to bicycles, many Japanese people use it to go to school or work, and most train stations suffer from too many bicycles parked illegally.

But Nagasaki is free from that common problem, thanks to slopes!

And according to Nagasaki locals, that’s a good daily excersize to keep them fit.

The following spots are my favorites, to enjoy the dynamic view of Nagasaki;

1. Mt. Inasa yama

Night view is especially popular, and called `Million dollars view’.
You can take a bus to Mt. Inasayama from Nagasaki Station, and then take skyway.

2. Glover Garden

Glover Garden is where Thomas Glover and his famiily lived.
It’s where westernization of Japan started.
Glover Garden is like a whole little mountain , and `Former Mitsubishi No.2 Dock House’ is the highest point.

3. Nishizaka Martyrs’ Hill

This is the place where 26 Martyrs brought from Osaka, kept walking for 33 days, and crucified, which now turned to one of the most sacred, beautiful, even relaxing spot in Nagasaki.

4. Kazagashira Park

Nagasaki, being the only gateway to foreign nations during National Isolation in Samurai Period, was the `dream town’ to attract many ambitious youth, including Ryoma.

5. Seabold Memorial Museum Park

Philipp Franz von Seabold came to Nagasaki in 1823 and contributed to the modernization of Japan, especially in science.

*From Tokyo to Nagasaki, it’s about 2 hours by plane.
*From Hakata (Fukuoka) to Nagasaki, it’s about 2 hours by express train.

For those who’re interested in Nagasaki and Kyushu, please read these, too.

-Love Nagasaki 2, Western culture first came to Nagasaki; Cafe, English School, and more…!

-Love Nagasaki 3, Shimabara Castle; where 37,000 Japanese Christians fought for their belief

-Love Nagasaki 4, where to date, drink sake, and shop?

Out of seven big sailig ships on this show, I especially would like to focus on Kanko-maru, which is the simbol of Ryoma Sakamoto’s hope !

This is the replica of the sailing ship that Ryoma actually boarded.

What’s wonderful about this festival is that you can board on it, and experience sailing for about an hour.

At the end of Samurai Period, Ryoma thought that sea is where he should be, the base where he can change Japan.

So he started Kaigun-juku (Navy School), got Kaigun-maru, and started using this Kanko-maru for practice, with his partner, Kaishu Katsu.

I am so excited to feel the dramatic history which really happened in this place, Nagasaki Port, and can’t help loving Nagasaki even more.

About 20 minutes by bus from Nagasaki Station, Ryoma Sakamoto is standing on the hill of Kazagashira Park, overviewing Nagasaki Port (*).

It was actually the most dramatic moment of his life.

This is a statue of `Ryoma ga Yuku (Here Ryoma goes)’, a popular novel written by Ryotaro Shiba.

Here’s what is written;

When the ship arrived at Nagasaki Port, Ryoma couldn’t help getting so excited and said, `Nagasaki is my hope, and from here, Japan will change.’

He, not only contributed to the revolution of Japan, but also established the first company in Japan, here in Nagasaki, with the help by Mr. Glover.

So, if you’d like to visit and greet Ryoma, why don’t you

- Visit Kazagashira Park to greet Ryoma

- Walk Ryoma Street

- Try Ryoma Shoes on

- and have lunch @ Kagetsu ??

*Nagasaki Port was the only port open to foreign nations during the period of Japan’s National Isolation Policy. (1639-1853)