0

NAGASAKI

When to travel?

The climate in Nagasaki is very comfortable.  They have the largest number of comfortable days, which means no extreme hot or cold temperature out of Japan.

Best season: Feb-Dec
Cherry blossoms: end of Mar-Apr
Foliage: mid of Nov-early Dec

When to travel?

Feb: Nagasaki Lantern festival (長崎ランタンフェスティバル), Nagasaki
Jul: Nagasaki port festival (ながさきみなとまつり), Nagasaki
Jul: Nagasaki Peron dragon boat festival (長崎ペーロン祭り), Nagasaki
Aug: Nagasaki night festival (長崎夜祭り), Nagasaki
Aug: Nagasaki shoro nagashi (長崎精霊流し), Nagasaki
Oct: Nagasaki kunchi (長崎くんち), Nagasaki
Nov: Karatsu kunchi (唐津くんち), Karatsu 唐津

Touristic spots

Capital city: Nagasaki (長崎)

The city is quite touristic because there are so many UNESCO World Heritage sites.  This is because the culture in Nagasaki is very diverse; Even when the Japanese border was closed from 16th to 18th century, Nagasaki was the only place where the trade with Holland and China was permitted. It was also the center of Christianity in Japan.

Glover Garden (グラバー園), a British businessman’s house, which now is a part of World Heritage site.
A picture from Nagasaki Lantern Festival, which is held at the big China town in the city.
Night view from Mt. Inasa (稲佐山), which is famous for one of the three best night views of Japan.

Sasebo (佐世保)

The second biggest city of Nagasaki.  Access to Tsukumo Islands and Huis Ten Bosch is very easy, so that many tourists visit this city.  There is also a huge American Military base, so that English is spoken more frequent than other cities.

Sasebo has been an important military base.

Huis Ten Bosch (ハウステンボス)

It is a theme park where you can feel as if you are in Holland or Europe, accessible from Sasebo.  Nagasaki maintains a great relationship with Holland for a long time, which is the reason why they have built this theme park.  Whole theme park is as large as Tokyo Disney Land.

From February until the end of March, there is a Tulip Festival.

Tulip festival.

Hirado (平戸)

Hirado had been the only place where trade with China and Holland was permitted by government in Edo period.  It is also the place where a Catholic Missionary started converting Japanese people into a Christian, so that these churches mean a lot to Christians.

Hirado Xavier Memorial Church (平戸ザビエル記念教会)
Hirado castle (平戸城).

Goto Islands (五島列島)

Goto Islands have as many as 152 small islands, with the total population of 70,000.  The Islands are about 100 km away from the port of Nagasaki, and a lot of islands are nominated as World Heritage sites for the hidden Christian site.

Beautiful beaches with unique culture.

Tsushima (対馬)

Tsushima is the 10th biggest island of Japan, which is located right in the middle of Japan and South Korea.  Because of the geographical feature, the island has been the place where Japanese and Korean culture mix, and even now there are many visitors from South Korea.

The island is known for a great fishing spot.  Access to Fukuoka is easier than going to Nagasaki.

Wadazumi shrine (和多都美神社)

Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region (長崎と天草地方の潜伏キリシタン関連遺産), Hashima (端島), Kujuku shima (九十九島) and Unzen Amakusa (雲仙天草国立公園)

They are World Heritage sites or National Park of Nagasaki.  Please see Kyushu article for description.