Nagasaki

Kyushu, Japan · City

The port Portugal, the Netherlands and China came in through, and it shows everywhere: Oura is the oldest standing Christian church in Japan, shippoku is a round-table banquet fusing Japanese, Chinese and European cooking, and castella is a Portuguese sponge cake rebuilt with rice molasses. The Peace Park and the atomic bomb museum are places of active mourning, not attractions. Offshore lies the mine-island of Gunkanjima.

The essentials

Getting there

Train — Direct Shinkansen from Fukuoka

Frequently asked questions about Nagasaki

What to do in Nagasaki: 56 activities

• Gunkanjima island 3 h must-see booking

  A mining island abandoned in 1974, now a World Heritage Site. Four licensed operators land there, but it depends on the swell and is cancelled often even in fine weather: book it for the first available day of your trip. Only a walkway of about 220 metres is accessible. It matters to know that forced Korean labourers and Chinese prisoners worked here, a historical dispute still very much open.

• Oura Cathedral 1.25 h must-see

  Completed in 1864, it is the oldest standing Christian church in Japan, the first Western-style building designated a National Treasure and part of the Hidden Christian Sites World Heritage listing. The so-called discovery of the hidden Christians happened here in 1865.

• Peace Park and Atomic Bomb Museum 2 h must-see

  A memorial dedicated to the victims of the second atomic bombing. The park, the museum and the hypocentre are places of active mourning, not attractions: no smiling selfies in front of the Peace Statue or the hypocentre monolith, the garlands of paper cranes are not to be touched or taken away, and silence is kept in the Hall of Remembrance. On 9 August there is an official ceremony and the area is partly closed off. Live testimony from survivors is becoming ever scarcer as they age, and it has to be booked weeks in advance through the city.

• Castella in a 17th-century house 0.5 h

  A sponge cake of 16th-century Portuguese origin, adapted with rice syrup and with the characteristic layer of sugar grains at the bottom. The Fukusaya house was founded in 1624 and its main shop is a historic building.

• Monument and museum of the 26 Martyrs 1 h

  On Nishizaka hill, the site of the crucifixion of 26 Christians in 1597 on Hideyoshi's orders, with the bronze relief by Yasutake Funakoshi. It is an official Catholic pilgrimage site and John Paul II visited it in 1981.

• Nagasaki Lantern Festival 3 h only two weeks for Chinese New Year

  Some 15,000 Chinese lanterns light up Chinatown, the Hamanomachi arcade and the central park for two weeks tied to Chinese New Year, between late January and late February. There is a 20-metre dragon dance every day and it is free except for the Confucius Shrine.

• Nagasaki Museum of History and Culture 2 h

  Built on the site of the city magistrate's office, with part of the building faithfully reconstructed, including the room where Christians were put on trial. It is the best place to understand the 250 years in which Nagasaki held a monopoly on Japan's foreign trade.

• Nagasaki Penguin Aquarium 2 h

  It keeps the widest variety of penguin species in the world - 9 of the 18 that exist - and has an open-sea swimming enclosure. It is half an hour by bus from the centre.

• Nagasaki Prefectural Art Museum, by Kengo Kuma 1.75 h

  Two blocks straddling a canal, joined by a glazed bridge-gallery, with a roof garden that is open and free. It holds the largest collection of Spanish art in Japan, with Picasso, Dali and Miro.

• National Peace Memorial Hall 0.75 h

  An underground space by Akira Kuryu with a sheet of water above 12 columns of light and shelves holding the records of the dead. It is a place of silence, very different from the museum next door, and admission is free. Doing the museum and this hall back to back is emotionally demanding: it is worth leaving the rest of the day for something gentle.

• Night views from Mount Inasa 1.5 h

  One of Japan's three most famous night views, alongside Hakodate and Kobe. The ropeway runs from nine in the morning to ten at night, and there is a free shuttle bus from several hotels in the centre, booked online on the same day. The observation deck is a 2011 redesign by Kengo Kuma; the business about the 'three best night views in the world' is a promotional label from 2012, not a scientific ranking.

• Sara-udon 1 h

  Noodles - thin and fried, or thick and stir-fried - under a thick sauce of pork, seafood and vegetables. It was born in the same restaurant as champon and is the city's everyday dish, more so than the touristy champon.

• Shippoku ryori 2.25 h booking

  A round-table banquet that fuses Japanese, Chinese and European cooking, born from meals shared between traders in the Nagasaki of Dejima. It is expensive and has to be booked days in advance, normally for two people or more.

• Shoro Nagashi, the procession of the spirit boats 3.5 h only 15 Aug

  Every 15 August, families who have lost someone in the past year pull handmade boats hung with lanterns to the sound of gongs. It is not a cheerful festival: it is a public funeral rite. Safety warning: tens of thousands of firecrackers are thrown at ground level for hours, so ear plugs are mandatory and glasses and long sleeves are strongly recommended.

• Suwa Shrine and the Kunchi Festival 2 h

  The city's main Shinto shrine, host every 7-9 October to the Nagasaki Kunchi, a festival with dragon dances recognised as intangible cultural heritage. It is held on 7, 8 and 9 October, fixed dates. Paid grandstand seats go on sale months ahead and sell out; the performances put on in front of the shops can be watched for free from the street.

• The Nagasaki tram 1 h

  Four lines with a very cheap flat fare and a one-day pass, connecting practically every point of interest. Cars from the 1950s run alongside modern units and electronic cards are accepted.

• The Sotome coast 3.5 h

  A coastal strip northwest of the city, of cliffs above the East China Sea: it is the setting of Shusaku Endo's 'Silence', and the late afternoon light on the sea is the reason the author chose this place.

• The villages of Shitsu and Ono, in Sotome 4.5 h booking

  Both lie within the Nagasaki municipality, about 50 minutes to the northwest, and both are components of the 2018 World Heritage listing. Shitsu preserves the church and the social works of Father De Rotz; Ono is a small stone church raised by the hidden Christian community itself. Like all the churches in the UNESCO property, they require advance notice because they are working parishes, and photographing the interior is prohibited.

• Urakami Cathedral 1 h

  It stood 500 metres from the hypocentre and was destroyed on 9 August 1945; the present building is a 1959 reconstruction, with remains of the original preserved in the garden and in Peace Park. Its bell, lost in the explosion, was reproduced through an American donation and since August 2025 the two ring together again.

• A slow afternoon in Sotome 4 h

  Chaining together the Endo museum, the coast and Ono church makes for a deliberately slow, quiet afternoon: it is the most distinctive doing-nothing activity in Nagasaki.

• Cape Nomozaki and the lighthouse trail 3.5 h

  The southern tip of the peninsula, within the municipality, with a direct view of Gunkanjima on the horizon and some 10 million wild daffodils in January. It is the best accessible sunset in Nagasaki and has almost no tourists.

• Champon, a Chinese-Japanese fusion dish 1 h

  A noodle soup created by Nagasaki's Chinese community. It was invented around 1899 at the Shikairo restaurant as a cheap way of feeding Chinese students; that same place is still open on the Matsugae slope and has a small champon museum on the upper floor.

• Confucius Shrine and Historical Museum of China 1.25 h

  The only Confucian temple in the world built by Chinese people outside China, in 1893, with 72 statues of disciples in Qufu marble. Inside, pieces on loan from the National Museum of China are on display.

• Dejima artificial island 1.5 h

  Japan's only point of contact with the West during its period of isolation (sakoku).

• Dejima Wharf 2 h booking

  A two-storey wooden wharf with restaurants and terraces over the water, with the lit-up harbour and Mount Inasa opposite. It is the quiet option compared with Shianbashi.

• Dutch Slope 0.75 h

  A cobbled street in the former foreign settlement, with Meiji-era Western-style wooden houses, several of them open to visit free of charge. It complements Glover Garden without its crowds or its admission fee.

• Glover Garden 1.5 h

  Former residences of Western merchants with views over the harbour.

• Hamanomachi arcade 1.5 h

  The city's main covered shopping arcade, between Shianbashi and Kanko-dori, with department stores and castella shops. It is also one of the settings of the lantern festival.

• Huis Ten Bosch 8 h booking

  It is in the city of Sasebo, a good hour and a half away by train, not in Nagasaki. It is Japan's largest theme park by area, reproduces a Dutch town at full scale and its big draw is the winter illumination, one of the largest in the world.

• Iojima onsen and beach 4 h

  The only real onsen within the Nagasaki city limits, on an island linked by bridge about 40 minutes from the centre: thermal bath with a sea view, beach, glamping and a coastal barbecue area. Unzen and Obama, usually sold as 'Nagasaki onsen', are a different municipality almost two hours away.

• Kofukuji Temple 0.75 h

  Founded in 1620, it is Japan's first obaku temple - Chinese Zen - and it was its abbot who ordered the building of the Meganebashi bridge. Ming architecture, very different from the Japanese kind.

• Nagasaki fish market 1 h

  Nagasaki has Japan's second-largest fishing fleet by variety of species, and both the auction and the breakfast restaurants around it reflect that. Check opening times and public access, which change.

• Nagasaki hata kites 1.25 h

  Diamond-shaped kites with Dutch or Indonesian flag designs, brought by foreign sailors, used in aerial battles in which the rival's line is cut with string coated in ground glass. There are painting workshops in Kazagashira Park.

• Nagasaki Stadium City 2.5 h

  A private complex opened in October 2024 on former Mitsubishi industrial land, integrating a stadium, arena, hotel and shopping. It has ziplines crossing above the pitch and hotel rooms looking straight onto the grass.

• Peiron and the Port Festival 3 h only the last Sunday of July

  Long-boat races with 30 rowers, a tradition brought from China in 1655 after a typhoon, held on the last Sunday of July. The Port Festival adds some 16,000 fireworks spread over two nights.

• Shianbashi and Maruyama by night 2.5 h

  It was one of the three great pleasure quarters of Edo-period Japan, alongside Yoshiwara and Shimabara, and today it is the city's bar and izakaya district. The name means 'bridge of hesitation': where the customer decided whether to go in or head home.

• Shinchi Chinatown 1.5 h

  One of Japan's three historic Chinatowns, with restaurants serving champon and other Chinese-Japanese fusion dishes. It is one of the three historic Chinatowns in Japan, along with those of Yokohama and Kobe, and the oldest in origin, having grown out of the Chinese goods warehouses of 1702. It amounts to only some forty shops on two streets: worth knowing so as not to expect something bigger.

• Shusaku Endo Literary Museum 1.5 h

  On a Sotome clifftop, with more than 30,000 objects belonging to the author of 'Silence' and a cafe with a sea view. It is the literary reading of the hidden Christians and links perfectly with Shitsu and Ono.

• Sofuku-ji Temple 1 h

  A Chinese-style Obaku Zen temple founded in 1629 by Nagasaki's Chinese community, known for its striking red gate.

• Toruko rice, the 'Turkish rice' 1 h

  A postwar one-plate dish that brings together pilaf rice, spaghetti in tomato sauce and a breaded pork cutlet with demi-glace on a single platter. Nothing about it is Turkish, it exists only in Nagasaki and it is the favourite cheap meal of local students.

• V-Varen Nagasaki at the Peace Stadium 3 h booking

  The city's football club has played since 2024 in the new stadium, a 10-minute walk from the station; its selling point is that the stand is 5 metres from the pitch, the closest in Japan.

• Amu Plaza Nagasaki 1.5 h

  The station shopping centre, expanded when the shinkansen arrived in 2022 and with a rooftop viewpoint. It is the practical place for last-minute souvenirs.

• Bekko Culture Museum 0.75 h

  Tortoiseshell pieces worked since the Edo period, with the technique introduced in the 17th century via Dejima, housed in the former customs building. Important warning: bekko comes from a critically endangered turtle listed in CITES Appendix I; its international trade has been banned since 1993 and it cannot be taken out of Japan. Visit it as craft heritage, but do not buy.

• Climbing Mount Nabekanmuri 3 h

  169 metres above the bay, with trails starting from the city centre itself. It is the best daytime alternative viewpoint to Inasa and is used above all by locals for exercise.

• Kayaking or paddleboarding at Iojima 2.5 h booking

  Sheltered water off the island, with rental at the resort: the outer bay of Nagasaki is among the calmest in Kyushu.

• Kite battles at Kazagashira 2 h only early April to early May

  From early April to early May, battles in which the rival's line is cut. It is the city's family activity in spring.

• Maruyama Flower Festival 2 h only the second weekend of November

  On the second weekend of November, a parade of courtesans through the former pleasure quarter, with geisha performances. It revives the world of the yujo who served Chinese and Dutch traders.

• Meganebashi Bridge 0.5 h

  A double-arched stone bridge built in 1634 over the Nakashima River, one of the oldest Western-style bridges in Japan. It dates from 1634 and is the oldest stone arch bridge in Japan; set into the river wall are two heart-shaped stones that people come looking for. The best moment is at dawn, with nobody around.

• Nagasaki glass 0.75 h

  Glassblowing introduced by the Portuguese, including the poppen: a very thin glass bottle that makes a sound when blown and that appears in a Utamaro ukiyo-e.

• Nagasaki Science Museum 2 h

  A planetarium and interactive exhibits beside the Urakami river, designed for schoolchildren. Very useful as a rainy-day plan.

• Nagasaki Seaside Park 1 h

  A waterfront promenade with lawns, sculptures and a view of the harbour and the Mitsubishi shipyards. It is where the city sits down to do nothing.

• Nagasaki Velca 2.5 h booking

  The basketball team plays in the arena of the same complex, from October to May. It is a very approachable spectacle for anyone who does not follow football.

• Nishi-Kyushu Shinkansen 'Kamome' 0.5 h booking

  A line opened in 2022 with wooden interiors designed by Eiji Mitooka. It still does not connect directly with Hakata: you have to change at Takeo-Onsen, about two hours in total.

• Takengei, bamboo acrobatics 1.5 h only 14-15 Oct

  On 14 and 15 October, two young men dressed in white perform acrobatics at the top of 10-metre bamboo poles at Wakamiya Inari Shrine. It is unusual, short and very photogenic.

• The alleys of Doza and Shianbashi by day 1.25 h

  A network of narrow lanes between Chinatown and Maruyama with tiny shrines hidden among shuttered bars, remnants of the Edo street plan. You walk it with no plan and spend nothing.

• The beaches of Iojima and Takashima 5 h

  Islands belonging to the municipality itself, with sandy beaches, clear water and very little international tourist pressure. Takashima adds a small coal museum and a tropical fish aquarium.

What only happens on specific dates

• Nagasaki Lantern Festival two weeks for Chinese New Year
• Kite battles at Kazagashira early April to early May
• Peiron and the Port Festival the last Sunday of July
• Shoro Nagashi, the procession of the spirit boats 15 Aug
• Takengei, bamboo acrobatics 14-15 Oct
• Maruyama Flower Festival the second weekend of November

Ready-made routes through Nagasaki

Chains well with

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