Nagasaki

One of the most impressive and curious places in Nagasaki is the Sanno Shrine because the main torii (gateway to the shrine) maintains only one pillar. How did this happen?

The Suwa shrine in Nagasaki was founded in 1614 as a way to expel the Christian faith from the region. During the Edo period, Nagasaki was one of the few places where there was contact with foreigners.

Although Shimabara has been plagued by (man-made) disasters in its history, it is a nice town to visit when you are traveling through Kyushu. The upside to being in a seismically active area is that there are many hot springs to be found.

In Nagasaki, very close to where the epicenter of the explosion of the atomic bomb was, is the Atomic Bomb Museum. Here, you can learn about what happened in 1945, and why this should never happen again.

One of the most emotional places in Japan is the so-called Peace Park. It is located in Nagasaki, a few minutes’ walk from the atomic bomb museum and it commemorates the victims of the atomic bombing.

Around 1549, Christian missionaries started arriving in Japan. They usually came from countries such as Spain and Portugal, and their objective was to spread the word of the church.

The city of Nagasaki is especially known for having been bombed with an atomic bomb during WW2. This fact overshadows its long history as an ancient point of contact with the Portuguese and the Dutch.