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Nagasaki
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is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture in Japan. Nagasaki was founded by the Portuguese in the 16th century. It was formerly part of Nishisonogi District. It was a center of Portuguese and European influence in the 16th through 19th centuries. Nagasaki became a major Imperial Japanese Navy base during the First Sino-Japanese War and Russo-Japanese War.
During World War II, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki made Nagasaki the second (and last, as of 2009) city in the world to be subject to nuclear warfare.
saki and Nishisonogi Peninsulas are located within the city limits.
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Encyclopedia
is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture in Japan. Nagasaki was founded by the Portuguese in the 16th century. It was formerly part of Nishisonogi District. It was a center of Portuguese and European influence in the 16th through 19th centuries. Nagasaki became a major Imperial Japanese Navy base during the First Sino-Japanese War and Russo-Japanese War.
During World War II, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki made Nagasaki the second (and last, as of 2009) city in the world to be subject to nuclear warfare.
Geography
Nagasaki and Nishisonogi Peninsulas are located within the city limits. The city is surrounded by the cities of Isahaya and Saikai, and the towns of Togitsu and Nagayo in Nishisonogi District.
Nagasaki lies at the head of a long bay which forms the best natural harbor on the island of Kyushu. The main commercial and residential area of the city lies on a small plain near the end of the bay. Two rivers divided by a mountain spur form the two main valleys in which the city lies. The heavily built-up area of the city is confined by the terrain to less than 4 square miles.
History
Medieval and early modern eras
Founded by the Portuguese before 1500, Nagasaki was originally secluded by harbors. It enjoyed little historical significance until contact with European explorers in 1542, when a Portuguese ship landed nearby, somewhere in Kagoshima prefecture. The Navarrese Jesuit missionary St. Francis Xavier arrived in another part of the territory in 1549, but left for China in 1551 and died soon afterwards. His followers who remained behind converted a number of daimyo (feudal lords). The most notable among them was Omura Sumitada, who derived great profit from his conversion to the "Kirishitan" religion through an accompanying deal to receive a portion of the trade from Portuguese ships at a port they established in Nagasaki in 1571 with his assistance.
The little harbor village quickly grew into a diverse port city, and Portuguese products imported through Nagasaki (such as tobacco, bread, textiles and a Portuguese sponge-cake called castellas) were assimilated into popular Japanese culture. Tempura, while not Portuguese in origin, takes its name from the Portuguese word, 'Tempero,' another example of the enduring effects of this cultural exchange. The Portuguese also brought with them many goods from China.
Due to the instability during the Sengoku period, Sumitada and Jesuit leader Alexandro Valignano conceived a plan to pass administrative control over to the Society of Jesus rather than see the Catholic city taken over by a non-Catholic daimyo. Thus, for a brief period after 1580, the city of Nagasaki was a Jesuit colony, under their administrative and military control. It became a refuge for Christians escaping maltreatment in other regions of Japan. In 1587, however, Toyotomi Hideyoshi's campaign to unify the country arrived in Kyushu. Concerned with the large Christian influence in southern Japan, as well as the active and what was perceived as the arrogant role the Jesuits were playing in the Japanese political arena, Hideyoshi ordered the expulsion of all missionaries, and placed the city under his direct control. However, the expulsion order went largely unenforced, and the fact remained that most of Nagasaki's population remained openly practicing Catholics.
In 1596, the Spanish ship San Felipe was wrecked off the coast of Shikoku, and Hideyoshi learned from its pilot that the Spanish Franciscans were the vanguard of an Iberian invasion of Japan. In response, Hideyoshi ordered the crucifixions of twenty-six Catholics in Nagasaki on February 5 of that year (i.e. the "Twenty-six Martyrs of Japan"). Portuguese traders were not ostracized, however, and so the city continued to thrive.
In 1602, Augustinian missionaries also arrived in Japan, and when Tokugawa Ieyasu took power in 1603, Catholicism was still tolerated. Many Catholic daimyo had been critical allies at the Battle of Sekigahara, and the Tokugawa position was not strong enough to move against them. Once Osaka Castle had been taken and Toyotomi Hideyoshi's offspring killed, though, the Tokugawa dominance was assured. In addition, the Dutch and English presence allowed trade without religious strings attached. Thus, in 1614, Catholicism was officially banned and all missionaries ordered to leave. Most Catholic daimyo apostatized, and forced their subjects to do so, although a few would not renounce the religion and left the country for Macao, Luzon and Japantowns in Southeast Asia. A brutal campaign of persecution followed, with thousands of converts across Kyushu and other parts of Japan killed, tortured, or forced to renounce their religion.
Catholicism's last gasp as an open religion, and the last major military action in Japan until the Meiji Restoration, was the Shimabara Rebellion of 1637. While there is no evidence that Europeans directly incited the rebellion, Shimabara Domain had been a Christian han for several decades, and the rebels adopted many Portuguese motifs and Christian icons. Consequently, in Tokugawa society the word "Shimabara" solidified the connection between Christianity and disloyalty, constantly used again and again in Tokugawa propaganda.
The Shimabara Rebellion also convinced many policy-makers that foreign influences were more trouble than they were worth, leading to the national isolation policy. The Portuguese, who had been previously living on a specially-constructed island-prison in Nagasaki harbor called Dejima, were expelled from the archipelago altogether, and the Dutch were moved from their base at Hirado into the trading island. In 1720 the ban on Dutch books was lifted, causing hundreds of scholars to flood into Nagasaki to study European science and art. Consequently, Nagasaki became a major center of rangaku, or "Dutch Learning". During the Edo period, the Tokugawa shogunate governed the city, appointing a hatamoto, the Nagasaki bugyo, as its chief administrator.
Consensus among historians was once that Nagasaki was Japan's only window on the world during its time as a closed country in the Tokugawa era. However, nowadays it is generally accepted that this was not the case, since Japan interacted and traded with the Ryukyu Kingdom, Korea and Russia through Satsuma, Tsushima and Matsumae respectively. Nevertheless, Nagasaki was depicted in contemporary art and literature as a cosmopolitan port brimming with exotic curiosities from the Western World.
In 1808, during the Napoleonic Wars the Royal Navy frigate HMS Phaeton entered Nagasaki Harbor in search of Dutch trading ships. The local magistrate was unable to resist the British demand for food, fuel, and water, later committing seppuku as a result. Laws were passed in the wake of this incident strengthening coastal defenses, threatening death to intruding foreigners, and prompting the training of English and Russian translators.
The Tojinyashiki or Chinese Factory in Nagasaki was also an important conduit for Chinese goods and information for the Japanese market. Various colorful Chinese merchants and artists sailed between the Chinese mainland and Nagasaki. Some actually combined the roles of merchant and artist such as 18th century Yi Hai. It is believed that as much as one-third of the population of Nagasaki at this time may have been Chinese.
Modern era
With the Meiji Restoration, Japan opened its doors once again to foreign trade and diplomatic relations. Nagasaki became a free port in 1859 and modernization began in earnest in 1868. Nagasaki was officially proclaimed a city on April 1, 1889. With Christianity legalized and the Kakure Kirishitan coming out of hiding, Nagasaki regained its earlier role as a center for Roman Catholicism in Japan.
During the Meiji period, Nagasaki became a center of heavy industry. Its main industry was ship-building, with the dockyards under control of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries becoming one of the prime contractors for the Imperial Japanese Navy, and with Nagasaki harbor used as an anchorage under the control of nearby Sasebo Naval District.These connections with the military made Nagasaki a major target for bombing by the Allies in World War II.
World War II and atomic bombing
On August 9, 1945, Nagasaki was the target of the world's second atomic bomb attack (and first plutonium bomb) at 11:02 a.m., when the north of the city was destroyed and an estimated 40,000 people were killed by the bomb nicknamed "Fat Man". According to statistics found within Nagasaki Peace Park, the death toll from the atomic bombing totalled 73,884, as well as another 74,909 injured, and another several hundred thousand diseased and dying due to fallout and other illness caused by radiation.
Much has been written in news reports, novels, and popular culture about Nagasaki in the years after the bombing. See for instance First Into Nagasaki.
Reconstruction after the war
The city was rebuilt after the war, albeit dramatically changed. New temples were built, as well as new churches due to an increase in the presence of Christianity. Nagasaki is the seat of a Roman Catholic Archdiocese led by Archbishop Joseph Mitsuaki Takami. Some of the rubble was left as a memorial, such as a one-legged torii gate and an arch near ground zero. New structures were also raised as memorials, such as the Atomic Bomb Museum. Nagasaki remains first and foremost a port city, supporting a rich shipping industry and setting a strong example of perseverance and peace.
Nagasaki in Western music and song
Nagasaki is the title and subject of a 1928 song with music by Harry Warren and lyrics by Mort Dixon. See Nagasaki (song). Nagasaki is also the setting for Puccini's opera Madama Butterfly.
Schools
Universities
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| *Siebold University of Nagasaki |
Junior Colleges
Transportation
The nearest airport is Nagasaki Airport in the neighboring city of Omura. The Kyushu Railway Company provides rail transportation on the Nagasaki Main Line, whose terminal is at Nagasaki Station. In addition, the Nagasaki Electric Tramway operates five routes in the city. The Nagasaki Expressway serves vehicular traffic with interchanges at Nagasaki and Susukizuka. In addition, six national highways crisscross the city: Routes 34, 202, 251, 324, and 499.
Tourism
Sights
* Dejima Museum of History
Events
The Prince Takamatsu Cup Nishinippon Round-Kyushu Ekiden, the world's longest relay race, begins in Nagasaki each November.
Kunchi, the most famous festival in Nagasaki, is held from 7-9 October.
The Nagasaki Lantern Festival , celebrating the Chinese New Year, is celebrated from 2/18 to 3/4 in 2007.
Foods and souvenirs
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| Chinese ConfectionsUrakami SoboroShippoku Cuisine | Toruko rice (Turkish rice)KarasumiNagasaki Kakuni Manju |
Shopping
- You-me Plaza
- Hamanomachi Shopping Arcade
- AMYU Plaza
Sister cities
The city of Nagasaki maintains sister-city or friendship relations with other cities worldwide.
Within Japan
Outside Japan
Saint Paul, Minnesota United States - (1955) Oldest sister city in Japan
Santos, Brazil (1972)
Porto, Portugal (1978)
Middelburg, Netherlands (1978)
Fuzhou, People's Republic of China (1980)
Vaux-sur-Aure, France (2005), sister city of Sotome since 1978
See also
External links
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- Comprehensive information on the history, and political and social implications of the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
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- Nagasaki JALT [Japan Association for Language Teaching]
- , produced by
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