In the Edo period, Maruyama in Nagasaki was renowned as one of the three largest licensed 'pleasure quarters' in Japan (the other two were Yoshiwara in Edo and Shimabara in Kyoto). Maruyama was the only red-light district which accepted foreign customers during the period when Japan was closed to the world.
This time, I finally visited the prestigious, historical Japanese restaurant 'Kagetsu-ro'. The buildings and gardens of Hikita-ya, a prostitute house, were bequeathed to this restaurant, which was designated as a historical site of Nagasaki prefecture in 1960. It still functions as a Japanese restaurant, with an official designation as a historical site, which is a rare case in Japan. If you come to Kagetsu-ro, you can enjoy 'Shippoku cuisine' (Nagasaki's specialty), in the same place where famous writers, artists, renowned samurai of Bakumatsu (at the end of Edo period) and foreign celebrities of the past used to be entertained.
