Delve into the culture and history of Nagasaki by visiting two museums and a park that reveal the effects of the 1945 atomic blast and the isolationist Edo period.For a different perspective of Nagasaki’s past, you will tour a historical museum on Dejima, an artificial island built hundreds of years ago to isolate Portuguese missionaries. Through enlightening documents, artwork and restored buildings, the museum shows what life was like during this cultural period. Next bring you to the Atomic Bomb Museum, a sobering reminder of the devastation from the atomic bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki in 1945. The end of World War II soon followed. As you browse the displays, you will learn about the city’s culture before the bomb struck and the aftermath of the atomic blast. You can expect to see photographs of the widespread destruction to buildings such as the Urakami Cathedral and neighborhoods that were reduced to ruins. The museum’s goal is to candidly show the devasation from the atomic bomb in hopes that nuclear weapons will eventually be abolished.It is only fitting that you will next visit the Peace Memorial Park, an urban greenspace built near Ground Zero of the atomic blast. The inspiring park and the statue at its center were constructed to represent Nagasaki’s wish for world peace and the hope that a conflict of the magnitude of World War II never repeats.
