Nagasaki City

Nagasaki City's status as a trade and tourism hub is testament to its recovery from its tragic past, when an atomic bomb was dropped on the city during WWII. Today, Nagasaki is a bustling place with many visitors coming to explore as part of their Kyushu adventure.

Within the city, Nagasaki Peace Park marks the place where the bomb was dropped, with two parks and a museum set up. The Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum serves as a reminder of the horrors of war and is an educational place to stop by while in the city.

Boasting one of the top night views in Japan, Mt. Inasa near the city center has a viewpoint that overlooks Nagasaki, which comes alive at night when bright lights flash across the buildings.

For the more adventurous, Gunkanjima, an abandoned island near Nagasaki Port whose name means "battleship island" in Japanese, is open to tours. It was a coal mine that had the highest density of people recorded, with 5,000 people squeezed into the island that was built to look like a battleship, hence its name. Tour participants are taken to three observation decks south of the island and spend about 45 minutes on the island with local tour guides.

In autumn, the Nagasaki Kunchi Festival has been held with great fanfare for about 400 years and crosses Dutch and Japanese cultures. Dance performances by Nagasaki's different districts are staged across the city and provide a vibrant insight into the city.