Peace Park & Atomic Bomb Museum
Memorial complex at the Urakami hypocenter, including the headless Statue of Peace and a moving museum housing remnants of the blast.
Open in Maps ↗Prefecture profile · 都道府県
Nagasaki 長崎県
Japan's only legal European gateway during the 1641–1859 sakoku seclusion, target of the second atomic bombing in August 1945, and now a UNESCO-rich landscape of Hidden-Christian sites, the Gunkanjima abandoned coal island, and Mitsubishi's Nagasaki shipyards.
Capital
Nagasaki City
Population
1.27 million
Area
4,131 km²
Region
Kyūshū
History
From 1641 to 1859, the small artificial island of Dejima in Nagasaki harbour was the only place Japanese could legally trade with Europeans — a 1.3-hectare Dutch trading post that was Japan's sole window onto Western science, medicine and politics for over two centuries.
On August 9, 1945, the United States dropped 'Fat Man' on Nagasaki — the second wartime use of a nuclear weapon. The bomb detonated over the Urakami valley, the heart of the city's historically Christian community, which Western missionaries had unintentionally chosen as their base of operations after Christianity was relegalized in 1873.
Hashima Island ('Gunkanjima'), a 6-hectare undersea coal mine off Nagasaki, was once the most densely populated place on Earth (~5,300 people in 1959). Closed in 1974 and abandoned; designated UNESCO Industrial Revolution heritage in 2015 and used as a Bond-film set ('Skyfall').
Economy & business
Nagasaki's prefectural GDP is around ¥4.4 trillion (US$31 billion). Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' Nagasaki shipyards (which built Battleship Musashi during WWII and now build LNG carriers and cruise ships); Sasebo Heavy Industries (defense and commercial); fisheries (Nagasaki's catch is one of Japan's largest by volume); citrus (biwa loquats — Japan's #1), wagyū, and a tourism economy heavy in UNESCO heritage and cruise traffic.
Key industries
Shipbuilding
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Nagasaki — built Battleship Musashi during WWII; today builds LNG carriers, cruise ships, and Aegis-system destroyers for the JMSDF. Sasebo Heavy Industries is a parallel commercial/defense yard.
Fisheries
Nagasaki's catch is one of Japan's largest by volume — yellowtail, mackerel, horse mackerel; the Goto Islands are a deep-water fisheries hub.
Agriculture & livestock
Biwa loquat (Japan's #1 producer, ~30% of national supply), Nagasaki wagyū, Mogi loquat citrus, Unzen-grown vegetables.
Defense logistics (Sasebo)
US Navy Fleet Activities Sasebo, the largest US naval base in mainland Japan after Yokosuka, hosts ~6,000 personnel; JMSDF's Sasebo District is co-located.
Tourism
Hashima (Gunkanjima), Dejima reconstruction, Glover Garden, Ōura Cathedral, Hidden-Christian sites — Nagasaki has an unusually dense per-capita UNESCO portfolio.
Notable companies
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (Nagasaki)Sasebo Heavy IndustriesJVC Kenwood (Nagasaki ops)18 Bank (Nagasaki-based)Nagasaki Shipyard Co-opCastella confectionery makers (Fukusaya, Bunmeidō)
Trade partners
ChinaSouth KoreaUnited StatesVietnamTaiwan
Tourism highlights
Dejima reconstruction
The fan-shaped Dutch trading post, partly excavated and partly rebuilt — Japan's only window onto Europe for 218 years of sakoku.
Open in Maps ↗Ōura Cathedral & Hidden Christian Sites
Japan's oldest standing church (1864) and the focal point of the Hidden-Christian UNESCO World Heritage cluster across the Goto Islands and Hirado.
Open in Maps ↗Hashima (Gunkanjima) tour
Boat trip from Nagasaki to the abandoned coal-mining island; the densest place on Earth in 1959 (Bond-film 'Skyfall' set).
Open in Maps ↗Glover Garden
Hillside Meiji-era foreign-merchant houses overlooking Nagasaki harbour — the Glover residence is Japan's oldest standing Western-style house.
Open in Maps ↗Huis Ten Bosch (Sasebo)
1.5 km² Dutch-themed resort with full-scale canal-house reproductions of 17th-century Amsterdam — Japan's largest theme park by area.
Open in Maps ↗Did you know
From 1641 to 1859, the only place a Japanese person could legally talk to a European was Dejima, Nagasaki — a fan-shaped artificial island of 1.3 hectares. Most Japanese knowledge of Western science, medicine, and politics during the entire Edo period entered through this single port.
Castella sponge cake — now sold in patisseries across Japan — was introduced to Nagasaki by Portuguese missionaries in the 1500s and slowly adapted using local sugar and mizuame syrup; Fukusaya's recipe (founded 1624) is essentially unchanged.
Hashima ('Gunkanjima') in 1959 had a population density of roughly 83,500 people per km² — higher than any neighbourhood in modern Manila, Mumbai or Tokyo, on a 6-hectare rock 19 km off Nagasaki.
About Nagasaki — Frequently asked
What is the capital of Nagasaki?
The capital of Nagasaki is Nagasaki City.
What region of Japan is Nagasaki in?
Nagasaki is part of the Kyūshū region of Japan.
What are Nagasaki's main industries?
Nagasaki's key industries include Shipbuilding, Fisheries, Agriculture & livestock, Defense logistics (Sasebo).
What are the top tourist attractions in Nagasaki?
Top attractions in Nagasaki include Peace Park & Atomic Bomb Museum, Dejima reconstruction, Ōura Cathedral & Hidden Christian Sites, Hashima (Gunkanjima) tour.
What major companies are based in Nagasaki?
Notable companies headquartered in Nagasaki include Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (Nagasaki), Sasebo Heavy Industries, JVC Kenwood (Nagasaki ops), 18 Bank (Nagasaki-based), Nagasaki Shipyard Co-op.
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