Nagasaki Information

Nagasaki was one the principal ports during Japan's exposure to the western world in the 1600's, giving the town the most European flavor of any of Japan's cites.  Nagasaki was partly destroyed by an atomic bomb blast at the end of World War II.  Tourist Nagasaki is known for its Peace Park and the Sofuku -ji, an elegant temple whose architecture has a pronounced Chinese look.

It is one of Japan's leading ports. Shipbuilding is the chief industry; steelworks, collieries, fisheries, and electrical machinery plants are also important. Nagasaki's port, the first to receive Western trade, was known to Portuguese and Spanish traders before it was opened to the Dutch in 1567. After the Portuguese and Spanish merchants were forced to leave Japan in 1637, the Dutch traders were restricted (1641–1858) to De-shima, an island in the harbor. Nagasaki was gradually reopened to general foreign trade during the 1850s. Long a center of Christianity, the city had until 1945 Japan's largest Roman Catholic cathedral. During World War II, on Aug. 9, 1945, Nagasaki became the target of the second atomic bomb ever detonated on a populated area; about 75,000 people were killed or wounded, and more than one third of the city was devastated.

Nagasaki Attractions: What to See?

Nagasaki is a busy and colourful city. Ukrami, the epicentre of the atomic explosion, is today a prosperous, peaceful suburb which encompasses

The chilling A-Bomb Museum , an evocative reminder of the horror of nuclear destruction

The Hypocentre Park , which has a black stone column marking the exact point above which the bomb exploded plus relics and ruins from the blast.

Bell in the turtle-shaped Fukusai-ji Zen Temple tolls at 11.02 am daily, the time of the explosion. It is one of the world's biggest pendulums hangs inside the temple. At the southern end of Nagasaki, a number fo the former homes of the city's european residents have been reassembled in the hillside Glover Garden.

An hour north of Nagasaki is Huis ten Bosch , an astounding recreation of a Dutch town, complete with windmills, dykes, a replica of the Dutch royal family's residence, tulips and a cheese shop.

And many more things to do...

Nagasaki Tourism Information