The port city of Nagasaki was, for quite a while, one of Japan’s most important commercial centres, especially as a result of its maritime trade. A quiet place in the hills, Nagasaki was the only port in Japan where European and other foreign ships were allowed to land for nearly two centuries (before the Meiji Restoration and Japan’s modernisation).  

For nearly two hundred years, Nagasaki was the only place in Japan through which Western thought and Western goods came into the country. There are still buildings, churches and mansions dating back to the days of the Europeans in Nagasaki. Nagasaki, of course, is known to most people because of the American atomic bomb that wiped out nearly one-third of the city on August 9, 1945. Like Hiroshima, Nagasaki too has a memorial to the dead- it’s called the Peace Park, and although nowhere as big as the one in Hiroshima, it’s saddening, nevertheless. Also a grim reminder is the Gembaku Shiryokan- the Atom Bomb Museum.

Other than the monuments devoted to the atomic bomb, there are other places of historic value in Nagasaki; these include a number of buildings, parks and areas from the time when a large population of Europeans lived in Nagasaki. Have a look, particularly, at the Catholic church of Oura, the oldest Gothic-style building in Japan with some lovely stained-glass windows and the Chinese Mansion, with its Chinese artefacts on loan from the Palace Museum in Beijing. Also try to visit Nishi-zaka, which was the scene of Christian martyrdom in the 1500s; and Oranda-zaka, or Holland Slope- Dutch style houses built by 19th century Dutch residents, which make you feel you’re somewhere in Holland. You might also like to visit Glover Gardens, an area where there are a number of old European houses, including Glover Mansion, built by an Englishman who married a Japanese woman and settled here- the mansion is supposed to be the place where Puccini’s opera Madame Butterfly was set.

Getting There: A few international flights from Honululu and some Asian destinations fly in to Fukuoka Airport on Kyushu Island, the nearest airport for Nagasaki though the city is slated to get its own airport by 2005. Buses and trains take two hours to Nagasaki from Fukuoka. Ferry services connect Beppu on Kyushu Island to Hiroshima,  Tokyo and Osaka .

Accommodation: Ryokans (traditional Japanese inns) and small to medium sized hotels are good places to stay in while on a visit to Nagasaki. Most hotels are located in and around Nagasaki Station making it very convenient for travellers.