Best of Nagasaki
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port
Nagasaki, Japan
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activityLevel
Strenuous Activity
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excursionType
All
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wheelchairAccessible
No
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startingAtPrice
$340
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minimumAge
Information Not Currently Available
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duration
Approximately 7 Hours
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mealsIncluded
Meals included
In 1945, Nagasaki became the second city to suffer a nuclear attack. Today, you will visit the Peace Memorial Park, located near Ground Zero, the center of the blast. It is home to a beautiful memorial fountain and the 30-foot-tall Statue of Peace.
Nearby is the Atomic Bomb Museum, which chronicles the events leading up to the bombing and the event itself. The displays include photographs taken in the city immediately after the blast as well as artifacts that survived the explosion.
A short walk from the museum leads to the Atomic Bomb Hypocenter, a black monolith marking Ground Zero.
Back on the coach, you will travel past the rebuilt Urakami Cathedral and the famed one-legged Torii gate of the Sanno Shrine. At the time of the blast the cathedral was the largest Christian church in Asia; the shrine’s Torii gate was also damaged in the explosion.
Continue to the Dejima Museum. Originally an artificial island, Dejima has long been joined to the mainland through land reclamation. For more than 200 years during the Tokugawa Shogunate, Japan practiced a policy of strict isolation from the outside world. The outpost of Dutch merchants living on Dejima Island was Japan’s only contact with the Western world. Tour the Dejima Museum, housed in a blue, Dutch colonial era building. The Museum chronicles how the unique Japanese-Dutch trading system worked.
A local hotel or restaurant is the setting for lunch.
After lunch, walk up to the Glover Garden. After the Meiji Restoration, Westerners took up residence in here. Scottish merchant Thomas Glover was an important figure in modern Japan’s early industrial development, instrumental in the formation of some iconic Japanese firms, including Mitsubishi. Glover Garden provides panoramic views of the city and is the site of seven historic buildings, including Glover’s residence—the first wooden Western-style house in Japan.
Guests who wish to stay in town to shop or explore independently are welcome to do so, but must make their own way back to the ship.