Port guide: Nagasaki, Japan

This destination is overshadowed by its atomic bombing, but don’t be misled: Nagasaki is one of Japan’s most laid-back and enjoyable small cities.

Who goes there

Most Japan cruise itineraries have a port call in Nagasaki, and why not: this city is scenic, agreeable and dense with history. It also often features on journeys that link Japan to Asian destinations such as mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea. You’ll be able to visit on the ships of big budget companies such as Celebrity, Norwegian and Princess, small luxury companies such as Ponant and Seabourn, and just about everything in between.

Nagasaki – scenic, agreeable and dense with history.

Sail on in

Have breakfast early and be ready on deck for the arrival into Nagasaki. Its deep harbour hunkers behind a sprinkling of pine-topped islands and is surrounded by forested hills. It’s one of Japan’s prettiest port approaches. Once into the harbour, most of the city rises on your right (starboard), starting with European-style villas and port buildings. Suburbs rise on hillsides studded with churches and temples. At water level, you’ll get a good look at the shipyards that caused Nagasaki to be chosen as a target for bombing in World War II.

Berth rites

The cruise terminal at Matsugae Pier doubles as an exhibition centre, and has a roof garden with fine views. It’s right in the city centre, making it easy to walk to main sights Chinatown and Glover Garden, as well as into the downtown shopping district. Trams run outside and are easy to use. You’ll find a good tourist information post inside the terminal, and sometimes an exchange booth.

Going ashore

The Atomic Bomb Museum provides a confronting history of the destruction wrought by “Fat Boy”, dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. The surrounding Peace Park has various memorials. The sobering visit is however tempered by a delightful city in a scenic harbour setting. Sights include hillside temples and Dejima Island, settled by Dutch traders in the mid-17th century, which now has recreated Dutch buildings.

Don’t miss

Glover Garden just south of the cruise terminal. This breeze-catching hillside suburb was developed by European and American traders in the 19th century. Fine colonial-style mansions – some converted to museums, or still furnished – look onto magnificent harbour views. Glover Villa is the oldest Western-style building in Japan (1863). Scotsman Thomas Glover started Kirin, now one of Japan’s biggest breweries; his marriage to a geisha is said to have inspired Puccini’s opera Madama Butterfly.

Get active

Japan’s compact and population-dense cities aren’t conducive to physical activity, and Nagasaki is no exception, although you’ll get a decent walk while exploring Glover Garden. For joggers, Nagasaki Seaside Park is adjacent to the cruise terminal. Bike hire is readily available; the Atomic Bomb Museum is eight kilometres return from port.

Best bites

Shinchi Chinatown is Nagasaki’s other historical foreign enclave and now one of its most popular tourist destinations, not least for its many restaurants. Among Japanese-influenced Chinese dishes are sara udon (various stir-fried ingredients over noodles) and champon dama (thick noodles topped with pork and seafood). More traditionally Chinese are the kakuni manju (pork-belly buns) and goma dango (sesame balls stuffed with sweet bean paste).

Further afield

A cable-car ride up Mount Inasa, a few kilometres west of Nagasaki, provides great views over the ocean, harbour and city. For something different, a ferry will take you out to the striking ruins of Hashima Island, an abandoned 20th-century coal mine and its service town. A popular excursion 70 kilometres west is Shimabara, a well-preserved 16th-century town with a reconstructed samurai castle that sits under the rumbling Mount Unzen volcano.