Nagasaki Hidden Gems

Nagasaki was the only place foreigners could legally trade during two centuries of national seclusion, and the whole city is shaped by that exception. Dejima, a fan-shaped artificial island, held the Dutch factory; the Chinese quarter traded alongside it; and the knowledge that entered Japan through this single gate — medicine, astronomy, gunnery — arrived here first. Christianity arrived earlier still and then went underground for 250 years, which is why the hidden Christian sites on the Goto and Amakusa islands are churches built immediately after the ban was lifted in the 1870s, often by the villagers themselves. The city was the second atomic bomb target in August 1945, and the hypocentre park and museum in Urakami sit beside the cathedral that was destroyed. Geographically it is a harbour ringed by steep slopes, so the streets climb, the trams take the valleys, and the night view from Mt. Inasa is a bowl of lights.