Day 15: Nagasaki
Lots of interesting history in Nagasaki, even pre-WWII.
Dejima
A small man-made island which from 1600-1899 was the only place in the country that westerners (at first Portuguese and then the Dutch) could land and trade with the Japanese.
It’s no longer an island, but the area has been partially restored to the way it looked in the early 1800’s.
Chinatown
The only other place in the country where non-Japanese people could live during the period of isolation. As a result, there’s a strong Chinese influence on Nagasaki’s signature foods. The most famous is chanpon — a seafood and noodle soup — but I got the sara udon, which is the same thing but with fried noodles.
Glover Garden
An area with a bunch of restored mansions built by western industrialists in the late 1800’s. Could have skipped this stop.
Ramen Hiiraji
My original plan was to check out the Nagasaki Art Museum, but apparently everyone else in Nagasaki had the same idea because there was a 2+ hour wait to get in (there was a big Ghibli exhibit, which I assume was drawing the crowds).
So instead, I went for the classic rainy day activity of getting a big bowl of tomato… ramen?
Ramen Hiiraji has a unique tomato-based ramen, which was really good, especially with some Tabasco on top. I ordered mine with extra eggplant, as well as some crispy charsu on the side.
Nagasaki Peace Park
The memorial at the site of the atomic bombing.
Iwasaki Honpo Nagasaki-eki
Kakuni Manju are another Chinese-influenced food specialty from Nagasaki. They‘re basically like pork bao. This one wasn’t very good.
Mount Inasa
There‘s normally a gondola that goes to the observatory at the top of the mountain, but it was closed for the month for maintenance. The “slope car” was still running though. They did warn there was heavy fog, but I went up anyway.
Japan’s #3 Night View
Rated the third best night view in all of Japan.
Oktoberfest
At the Nagasaki convention center they were having Oktoberfest. I haven’t been to Munich, but I’m sure it’s just the same.
