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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/HarukaExpress on 2025-08-31 14:12:24+00:00.
Just discovered this sub and decided to do a report on a short trip I took to Nagasaki last week. Going into it, I was mainly interested in Nagasaki for its history, from its founding as a Christian city by the Jesuits to its status as the primary gateway between the world and a closed-off Japan during the Edo period.
That part was great as expected, but what I didn't expect was how gorgeous the city and nearby countryside were. The city is surrounded by mountains covered in lush green forests, which as a Tokyo resident was kind of mind-blowing.
Kyushu has seen record flooding this year, and I think there was literally a typhoon passing by Kagoshima during my flight there, but miraculously we had beautiful (but very hot and humid) weather everywhere we went.
I stayed at Hotel H2 Nagasaki, which was perfectly fine but nothing special. Breakfast definitely not worth it. Good location close to Hamamachi and Chinatown, where all the restaurants are.
Day 1 (Atomic Bomb Stuff)
- Arrived at Nagasaki Airport in the morning (on an Exeggutor themed plane!) and took the ~40 min bus to Nagasaki Station. Fare is 1200 yen and IC cards (Suica, etc.) are accepted.
- Friend arrived on a later flight, so while waiting I visited the Twenty-Six Martyrs Museum and Monument, built to commemorate a 1597 public execution of Christians by Hideyoshi. The museum is small with informative exhibits on the history of the incident and the Portuguese/Spanish mission in Japan more broadly. There was lots in English and other languages as I believe the site has been officially recognized by the Catholic Church (Popes Francis and John Paul II visited).
- Met up with friend at her hotel and ate lunch at nearby Edo Bishi. Very homey place for Nagasaki Chinese food. We were literally served by two elementary school children who must have been on summer break. The signature dish of Nagasaki is champon, which is just a bunch of vegetables and seafood thrown on top of noodle soup, supposedly invented by a Chinese chef who wanted to provide poor Chinese students studying in Japan with something cheap and nutritious. I opted for its soupless variant (instead smothered in goopy sauce), called sara udon (literally "noodles on a plate"; it's not actually udon noodles), which was delicious.
- Took the cute tram to the Atomic Bomb Museum. There aren't really any words to describe the experience or why you should go. If you're in Nagasaki for the first time, just go. It was smaller than I was expecting, took about 2 hours. After you're done it's a short stroll up to the Peace Park, where there's a memorial at the hypocenter with remnants of the original Urakami Cathedral, and further along the famous statue of the man pointing up with one hand to warn of the dangers of the bomb and sideways with the other to signify peace.
- Walked a bit to the rebuilt Urakami Cathedral. Not much to see, but you can peek inside for free. On display is a haunting bust of the Virgin Mary that was exposed to the bomb. It looked so symbolic that at first I thought it was an art piece.
- Bought some locally grown grapes at Iwanaga Fruits just across the street before hopping on a bus to Sanno Shrine (you get off at Sakamotomachi), where there is a famous torii gate standing on one leg after the other half was blown away by the blast, as well as two camphor trees which appeared totally dead after exposure to the bomb only to grow again into the giants they are today. The beautiful song Kusunoki by Masaharu Fukuyama (super celebrity born in Nagasaki) is about these two trees and was featured at this year's remembrance ceremony.
- Back to the city center for dinner at El Dorado Mexican Restaurant & Bar (lol). It was very good but obviously most tourists aren't going to come to Japan and eat Mexican food. I live in Tokyo, where it's relatively hard to find, so that's why I wanted to go.
Day 2 (Shimabara)
- Rented a car with Toyota and drove out to the Shimabara Peninsula, stopping at a small bakery Patisserie Boulangerie Pack along the way in Obama (!). Picked up a red-bean bun, nothing special but the grandma was nice. The whole drive was scenic. Stopped to get out at this viewing point overlooking terraced potato fields.
- Arrived at Kuchinotsu for dolphin watching with Minamishimabara Dolphin Watching, booked online about a week prior. You have to check in at reception 20 minutes before departure. The group was fairly large so we split into two boats. Besides us and a group of Chinese tourists, it seemed like mostly local families with kids. Most of the ~80 minutes was spent going farther out into the sea and then back again, but we were lucky enough to see a large pod of dolphins. There must have been at least 20 all swimming together very close to the boat. Unfortunately we didn't get to spend much time with them as we had to get back to port, but it was still an incredible experience. Summer is apparently the best time to spot dolphins, though, so I wonder what the average experience is like at other times of the year.
- Lunch at nearby Kiyoka. This felt like a hidden gem and was probably my favorite meal of the trip. Unassuming building but we strolled in without a reservation and were shown to a private tatami room. Felt very traditional, the waitresses even do the thing where they kneel before opening the sliding door, and the menu consisted of those set meals where there's like a sampling of twenty different things. I got the "Ladies' Set" (around 2000 yen and you don't have to be a lady lol) which had nigiri (tuna, shrimp, egg), sashimi (octopus, salmon, hamo, etc.), dengaku (my favorite), and more.
- Visit to the Arima Christian Heritage Museum, a modest local place exhibiting the history of Christianity in Japan in connection with the local warlord Arima Harunobu, one of the daimyo converts, and Hara Castle, the site of a bloody 1637 rebellion where many of the rebels were Christians. I don't remember there being any English. They were selling products from local businesses, and we got some neat biscuits supposedly made according to a traditional recipe from Santa Maria Island in the Azores that the Portuguese missionaries brought over.
- Drove over to the Hara Castle Ruins but it seemed like there wasn't much to see and it was sweltering, so decided to just head back to Nagasaki. Stopped in Obama again, this time for delicious sorbet at R cinq famille.
- Casual dinner at Asa made Udon. Nothing special but we got to try Gotо̄ udon (hailing from the nearby Gotо̄ Islands), which is much thinner than your typical Sanuki udon.
Day 3 (Random City Stuff)
- Ate breakfast at Cafe Hirai, an atmospheric little cafe serving hot sandwiches. I think I had the egg sandwich with a banana soy milk drink, both of which were good. One of the few non-fast food joints open early.
- Spent a couple hours in Dejima, the artificial island where all the Dutch traders were sequestered during the Edo period. It's now a sort of historical park with recreated buildings and plenty of informative exhibits. We did an hour-long guided tour (free). The guide was clearly pretty new and wasn't the best public speaker, but he was doing his best so I didn't mind. As a history nerd I could've easily spent more time there, but my friend had a work thing so before splitting up we grabbed Chinese for lunch at Red Lantern inside the Dejima Wharf building. They of course had champon but I opted for congee, which was not bad.
- On my own, I headed to О̄ura Cathedral, one of the first churches built as Japan was opening up to the West and the oldest one still standing. There's not much to do inside the actual building but admire the architecture and listen to the spiel playing on the speakers (in Japanese). Most of your time will be spent in the adjacent museum introducing the history of Christianity in Japan. Of the three Christianity-related museums I visited, this one had the most noticeable Christian bent, whereas the other two had more of a neutral historical perspective.
- Walked around the nearby Glover Garden, where you can tour the historic homes of prominent foreigners from the late 1800s. To be honest I thought this along with the О̄ura Cathedral were skippable unless you have a particular interest in either, though admittedly I didn't go through the garden too thoroughly as it was very hot.
- Cooled off in my hotel before heading towa...
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