Museum sights in Nagasaki
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A
Nagasaki Museum of History & Culture
This large, excellent museum opened in 2005 to focus on Nagasaki's proud history of international exchange. The main gallery is a fabulous reconstruction of a section of the Edo-period Nagasaki Magistrate's Office, which controlled trade and diplomacy. The free English-language audioguide is one of the best in the country.
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B
Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum
An essential Nagasaki experience, this sombre place recounts the city's destruction and loss of life through photos and artefacts, including mangled rocks, trees, furniture, pottery and clothing, first-hand accounts from survivors and stories of heroic relief efforts. Exhibits cover Japan's military prewar aggression and the postbombing struggle for nuclear disarmament, and conclude with a chilling illustration of which nations still bear nuclear arms.
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Nagai Takashi Memorial Museum
The courage and faith of one man in the face of overwhelming adversity is the subject of this small but quietly moving museum. Already suffering from leukaemia, Dr Nagai survived the atomic explosion but lost his wife to it. He immediately devoted himself to the treatment of bomb victims until his death in 1951. In his final days, he continued to write prolifically and secure donations for survivors and orphans, earning the nickname 'Saint of Nagasaki'. Ask to watch the video in English.
Next door is Nyokodō (如己堂), the simple hut from which Dr Nagai worked – its name comes from the biblical commandment 'love thy neighbour as thyself'.
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C
Dejima Museum
The small museum, a cluster of small buildings, has exhibits on the Dutch and other foreign contact with Nagasaki, and free walking-tour maps of the entire site. Although the island was submerged during 19th-century land-reclamation projects, the trading post, now a national historic site, has been restored.
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D
26 Martyrs museum
Just next door the memorial wall, which commemorates the murder of the 26 Christians who died here in the 16th-century, this musuem houses Christianity-related displays. The memorial is five minutes' walk from JR Nagasaki station.
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E
Historical Museum of China
This glossy museum of Chinese art spans jade artefacts and Neotlithic archaeological finds to terracotta warriors and Qing-dynasty porcelain, much of it on loan from the Palace Museum in Beijing. There's also a large gift shop.
The jauntily painted Kōshi-byō (長崎孔子廟) shrine nearby claims to be the only Confucian shrine built by and for Chinese outside of China, and the statues of sages in its courtyard certainly make you feel like you've journeyed across the sea. The original 1893 building was destroyed by fire following the A-bomb explosion.
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Nyokodō
Dr Nagai's small hut is preserved as a memorial next door to the memorial musuem also named after him. Dr Nagai Takashi devoted himself to the treatment of bomb victims until his death in 1951.
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F
Nagasaki Museum of History & Folklore
Exhibits antique household items such as fishing lures, dolls, cookware and so on, which one rarely gets to see. A 'hands on' room allows children of all ages to play around.
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Hong Kong & Shanghai Bank Nagasaki Branch Museum
This historic museum is also worth a peek. It has high ceilings, burnished wood banisters, several displays, and signage in English, French, and Chinese.
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G
Nagasaki Traditional Performing Arts Museum
This has a display of dragons and floats used in the colourful Kunchi Matsuri. You'll walk through the museum as you exit hte Clover garden.
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H
Mitsubishi No 2 Dock building
Has displays about the city's important shipyard.
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Nagasaki City Museum of History & Folklore
This old-fashioned case museum highlights the connections between Japanese, Chinese, Dutch and Portuguese cultures here in Nagasaki, with antique items relating to daily life, plus a toy display. It's inside the Nagasaki Peace Hall building.
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