Discovering Nagasaki in one-day

Ms. Lorenza Zuccatti from Italy

*Administrative Staff, University of Trento.
She participated “Nagasaki University International Staff Week” in July 2019.

Before leaving for Japan, I read that Nagasaki was selected in 2016 as one of the “Tourism Role Model Cities”: an excellent example of cities that are making several efforts to make their region more attractive for international tourists.

Due to late arrival and heavy rain on Saturday 20th July, I decided not to start the exploration of Nagasaki, but instead to do some desk research to prepare better the next day field research. Thus, I learnt the following.

Culture

Nagasaki is a port city with a unique history. During the Age of Exploration (XVI century), Portuguese ships reached Nagasaki in 1571. That was the beginning of Nagasaki's development as a trading port and the city flourished as a port open to foreign trade since then. Also during the Edo period (1603-1868), when Japan closed its doors to other countries, Nagasaki kept operating as the only port open to international trade. As a consequence, the city played an important role in the nation's relation with other countries. Nagasaki adopted western customs and over the centuries it hosted numerous foreigners who settled there, which helped developing a unique culture through trade with its exclusive partners, China and the Netherlands.

In particular, after Japan's opening to the world in 1858, people from a number of countries settled in the free port of Nagasaki (e.g. the former Chinese settlement and Chinatown, the Glover Garden, Dejima and the Hollander slope). Western knowledge, industrial techniques and culture were introduced to the city, and Nagasaki was a major contributor to the nation's modernization.

However, we should not forget the recent tragic history of Nagasaki and we should pay our respects at the Nagasaki Peace Park: The dropping of the second atomic bomb here during World War II is commemorated in various memorials dedicated to the incident. The Peace Park is a stark reminder of the devastation caused and speak of peace, and hope.

World Heritage Sites

In Nagasaki and in its region we can also find some “Hidden Christian Sites”. They are located in the north-western part of Kyushu island and they consists of ten villages, remains of the Hara Castle and the Oura Cathedral in Nagasaki. These serial proprieties, dating from the 17th to the 19th centuries, reflect the era of prohibition of the Christian faith, as well as the revitalization of Christian communities after the official lifting of prohibition in 1873. In particular, Oura Cathedral was built in 1854 and it is the oldest wooden church built in the Gothic-style in Japan.

A second UNESCO world heritage site is Gunkanjima (Hashima Island). It is an abandoned island about 20km away from Nagasaki port. As part of a coal mining operation, the small island was bought by Mitsubishi and became home to more than 5000 residents. When the mine shut down in 1974, the island was quickly abandoned and declared inaccessible to the public. Tours of the island started again in 2009.

Local spots

Nevertheless I decided to focus my one-day exploration of Nagasaki on two different areas which, according to my view, should give me a good idea of both the traditional features of the city as well as the more modern ones. Thus, I decided to visit Teramachi-dori (Temple Street) first and then Kanko-dori and Nishi Hamano-machi Arcade.

I started my at Shokakuji-shita streetcar stop for a walk along Teramachi-dori (temple street) to visit the Chinese Buddhist temple Sofukuji, which is actually considered one of the best examples of Chinese architecture from the Ming period (14th-17th centuries) in the world as well as a reminder of the multicultural identity of Nagasaki, open to the world. I read that the elements of the temple were made in Fujian, China, then assembled in Japan in 1629! The symbol of the temple is a giant pot that served to feed porridge to 3,000 people a day during a famine in 1681. But also the wooden fish-board in the courtyard of the temple is impressive.

Afterwards I stopped at Kofukuji Temple which I read being the oldest and one of the most important Chinese-founded temples in Nagasaki. It is the birthplace of the Obaku school of Zen Buddhism in Japan and has many interesting features. The temple was established around 1620 by a Chinese monk at a time when large numbers of Chinese merchants were coming to Nagasaki to trade. The complex was originally set up as a place to pray for safe sea travel for the merchants.

The whole area is very green, thanks to the gorgeous gardens and bamboos forest that surround the temples up to the hill slope. Streets are peaceful, clean and quiet and it is a real pleasure to explore the narrow streets where the Shishitoki River flows. On top of that, I encountered quite a number of “Omagari-neko”, curly-tailed or bent-tailed cats or bent tail cats which should attract good luck, as I read. It's said that around 75 to 80% of the cats in Nagasaki Prefecture are "omagari neko"! I learnt that Japanese people have had a long relationship with cats. Common people started having pet cats at home several hundred years ago and there are shrines that worship cats as gods across Japan. It came to my mind that some years ago I read the novel “I Am a Cat”, written by the great novelist Soseki Natsume in the Meiji period (1868-1912: a book which became a famous masterpiece of Japanese literature. Even nowadays you can find examples, such as the famous character “Hello Kitty” the cute anthropomorphic cat.

While walking around I crossed a good part of Tera-machi area and I ended up at Suwa Shrine with its long flight of more than 250 stairs, flanked by “tori” and guardian lion-dogs.

A few streetcar stop after I found myself in the vibrant shopping area of Kanko-dori and Nishi Hamano-machi Arcade, one of Nagasaki city's most well-known shopping area which boasts an impressive number of stores, which range from domestically and internationally well-known brands to local old-fashioned family-owned businesses like boutique cafes, sweet confectioneries shops, second-hand shops, kimono-shops and antiques sellers. In particular I was fascinated by stationery shops which sell textiles, Japanese “washi” paper, gift cards and handkerchiefs as well as several souvenirs with beautiful patterns.

Public transportation

Nagasaki Airport is located about 30 kilometers northeast of the city center. The one way journey from the airport to Nagasaki Station by bus takes 45 minutes and costs 1000 yen. There are departures every twenty minutes from platform n.5. Next to the platform, airport staff is available to help foreigners in purchasing the bus ticket form the ticket machine. On the bus, information and stops are given in Japanese and in English, which is very useful. Do not forget to give your ticket back to the bus driver while getting out of the bus!

Nagasaki seems to be pretty easily navigated by tram and on foot (but if you walk around it would be advisable you wear flat shoes because of stone pavement, slopes, stairs and rainy days!). The city center with most major tourist attractions is situated about one kilometer (or five minutes by tram) southeast of Nagasaki Station. Among the major sights, only the Peace Park is not centrally located, several kilometers north of Nagasaki Station.

Nagasaki is served by four tram (streetcars) lines (1, 3, 4 and 5: why no line number 2') and you can use them to reach city's main attraction as well as the three University campuses. The tram lines run approximately every 5-8 minutes from 6:00 to 23:00. You can find the right tram lines according to their number and color. If more than one tram stop at the same platform, a map will display where each line stops exactly. On the platform you can find maps and information describing how to reach the nearby tourist spots. When in the streetcar, displays will show maps and give information about the next stop both in Japanese and in English.

It is important you remember to enter the tram through the rear door and to exit through the front door. On top of that, you pay the driver when exiting, not when getting on the bus. One ride costs 130 yen per ride regardless of how far you travel, but I found more convenient to buy a 1-day pass for unlimited use of trams on one calendar day at the price of for 500 yen.

The tram network is designed in a way in which it is possible to reach almost any tram stop from any other tram stop without the need of a transfer. If a transfer between lines 1 and 5 is needed, only at Tsukimachi tram stop transferring passengers can ask for a transfer ticket when exiting a tram at Tsukimachi in order to avoid paying twice.

Nagasaki and its area is also included in the JR Sanyo-San'in Northern Kyushu JR Pass which allow foreign travelers 7 days of unlimited travel from Osaka/Kyoto to Northern Kyushu at 22,000 yen. You can purchase a voucher for the JR Pass when still at home and exchange the voucher with the JR Pass in the relevant JR ticket office. The JR ticket office at Nagasaki Train Station (ground floor) was very efficient in that.

Food

Sushi and sashimi of course! I discovered with pleasure that in Nagasaki blue fish (which I like very much!) is very often used to prepare sushi. Unfortunately I have not had the opportunity yet to taste and to appreciate the Nagasaki traditional local cuisine called “Shippoku Ryori”. As far as I know, it is a mix between western such as Netherlands or Portugal and eastern Chinese dishes and arranged as Japanese style.

Thanks to a Japanese exchange student hosted in Trento a few years ago, I already knew Castella sponge cake. However, I did not know that Nagasaki Castella Sponge Cake is famous nationwide as a Japanese confection, which is made from a recipe via direct communication with Portugal. Thanks to my strolling around and getting lost in the narrow streets full of nice small shops of Nagasaki, I realized that the city has more than just Castella sponge cake. Beautiful confectionary shops in the Naka-dori Arcade display in their windows Nagasaki “Kankoro Mochi” (made of sweet potatoes and glutinous rice), Chinese confectionary, “Kasumaki” (a Japanese sweet wrapped in bean jam with a Castella-like sponge cake), and more. I was told that in Japan's era of isolation, Dutch ships brought sugar to Nagaski Dejima and it went from here throughout Japan.

People

Nagasaki is a very clean and safe city. On Sunday morning I saw a number of storefront owners sweeping up the sidewalks and streets outside their stores, which is very rare to be seen in Italy.

On one hand Japanese people are formal and disciplined, on the other hand they are very friendly and even though not all of them can speak English, they are ready to help you as much as they can. Nagasaki's inhabitants seems to have a strong sense of community. They are polite and quite, but they enjoy a lot meeting with friends and having a drink or meal together. I was impressed by the number of young people strolling around in small groups and having fun together after school.

As a foreigner, I cannot stop appreciating the traditional greeting in Japan, which is bowing during any given exchange also in the shops, restaurants and even on the street. My first impression is that Japanese people value harmony a lot and they place great emphasis on personal responsibility, politeness, personal dignity, punctuality and working together as a universal.

There is a concept called “saving face” in which Japanese people believe is crucial in their society. It is a mark of personal dignity and having high status with one's peers.

Service

Nagasaki offers arrange of different useful services among them:

Free Wi-Fi connection available in several areas, but as soon as I arrived in Japan I have noticed that almost everyone keeps their phone in Manner/Silent Mode all the time.

Public toilets in parks, stations, department stores and restaurants.

Being a no-smokers, I very much appreciate that people only smoke in designated smoking areas to contain second-hand smoke, as well as for smokers to carry small portable ashtrays to dispose their cigarette butts when cigarette bins cannot be found.

Vending machines in the street where you can easily buy drinks and snacks.