Central Nagasaki · DejimaNo.1037★★★Open in map →

Dejima

— Nagasaki's fan-shaped Dutch trading island

historyThe classic — done right

A fan-shaped artificial island in central Nagasaki that was Japan's only opening to the West through the closed-country centuries. Its Edo-period buildings have been rebuilt on the excavated ground, and the quarter opens early and stays open late.

FromNagasaki Station
~10 minTram Line 1, frequent
Get off atDejima (Nagasaki Electric Tramway Line 1)
On foot
Dejima

Directions ↗

Where it is

20 more notes in Nagasaki · open the map →

What to look for — in walking order

Chief Factor's ResidenceChristophe95 / CC BY-SA 4.0

The Water Gatethe seaward gate where cargo, books and people first came ashore, and one of the two entrances today
The Ship Captain's Quartersan earth-floored store below and furnished living rooms above, from the first phase of restoration
The Chief Factor's Residencethe largest building on the island, with exhibits below and the factor's rooms recreated above
The Main Gate and Omotemon Bridgethe rebuilt front gate and the slender bridge that reconnects it to the Edomachi bank
The Former Nagasaki Club and SeminaryWestern-style Meiji buildings at the eastern end, one holding a restaurant and settlement-era displays

How to actually get there

Nagasaki Station → Dejima (Nagasaki Electric Tramway Line 1, Sofukuji direction, flat fare 150 yen).
Dejima tram stop → the water-gate entrance, about a minute on foot across Dejima Seaside Dori.
Walk the restored lane west to east, from the water gate past the chief factor's house to the Meiji-era buildings.
Leave over the Omotemon bridge, which puts you on the Edomachi bank for the walk into the old town.

Tram Line 1 from Nagasaki Station: From the Nagasaki Station tram stop, take Nagasaki Electric Tramway Line 1 in the Sofukuji direction and get off at Dejima; the entrance is about a minute away on foot. The fare is a flat 150 yen however far you ride, and Line 1 runs often enough through the day that no timetable planning is needed. City buses on routes 17 and 27 from the station's south exit also stop at Dejima.
Return from the Dejima stop: The stop on the opposite side of the tracks takes you back toward Nagasaki Station on the same line. Trams run late into the evening but not through the night, so if you stay until the buildings are lit, check the last departure posted at the stop before you settle in.

Directions from my location (Google Maps) ↗

About the place

Dejima sits in the middle of Nagasaki, a fan-shaped artificial island thrown out into the bay and later swallowed by land reclamation. Nagasaki City has been rebuilding it in phases, and sixteen buildings now stand again in the form they had in the early nineteenth century: warehouses for sugar and dyewood, the chief factor's house, a cook's room, the water gate on the seaward side. The island is no longer ringed by water, but its outline is marked in the streets around it. Inside, the restored quarter reads as a single lane, with exhibition rooms, a museum shop and a restaurant occupying the rebuilt buildings.

How to enjoy it

The Omotemon bridge side is open from 8:00 to 21:00 with last entry at 20:40, and the water gate keeps a shorter day, closing at 18:00. Arriving at opening puts you on the lane ahead of the school groups; coming back in the evening gives the same lane lamplight and far fewer people. Re-entry is not allowed on one ticket, so plan the walk as a single pass rather than two visits.

Background & history

The island was finished in 1636, built by Nagasaki townsmen on the shogunate's order to hold the Portuguese apart from the town; the Portuguese were expelled three years later. From 1641 the Dutch trading post was moved onto it, and for more than two centuries Dejima was the only place where Japan and the West traded, until the post was abolished in 1859. Reclamation then buried the island inside the growing city. Restoration began in the post-war decades, and in 2017 a new bridge put the historic front gate back within reach of the far bank.

Before you go

Cash: Admission to the historic site is charged and is collected at the gates; the official site states that cash, credit and debit cards, electronic money and QR-code payment are all accepted. The tram is a flat fare and takes nationwide transit IC cards as well as contactless credit cards.
Good to know: The site keeps no fixed closing day, though individual buildings shut for maintenance, and the former seminary is closed to entry at present for safety. The lane itself is open to the sky, so rain is felt; the restaurant and the museum shop keep shorter hours than the site.
Another way: Getting off one stop further on at Shinchi Chinatown puts you about four minutes' walk from the site, which is the easier approach if you are coming up from the Glover Garden side. On foot from the station it is a straight run south along the harbour past Dejima Wharf.
After you get off: From the Dejima tram stop, the water-gate entrance is across Dejima Seaside Dori, under a minute on foot. The Omotemon bridge entrance is on the far side, reached from the Edomachi bank of the Nakashima River.