The Gateway Timeline.
Documenting the pivotal vectors of trade, faith, and industry that engineered the modern Nagasaki harbor.
The Portuguese Opening
Nagasaki transforms from a small fishing village into Japan’s primary international port as the Portuguese establish a permanent trade node for silk and silver.
The Dejima Filter
Dutch trade is restricted to the fan-shaped island of Dejima. For 214 years, this 1.5-hectare site remains Japan’s only technical link to Western science and medicine.
The Industrial Surge
The port opens to wider global trade. Thomas Glover and the Mitsubishi shipyards engineer Japan’s first steamships and modern mining infrastructure.
The Great Rift
August 9th. The detonation of the atomic bomb over the Urakami district creates a devastating structural and human rift, fundamentally altering the city’s destiny.
Rebirth & Archive
The completion of the Peace Park and the UNESCO designation of both industrial and Christian sites solidify Nagasaki’s role as a global city of hope and history.
Hidden Codes.
Nagasaki archives the world's most unique record of religious resilience. Following the 1614 ban on Christianity, believers transitioned to a technical state of 'Hidden Faith,' utilizing Buddhist and Shinto icons to camouflage their practice. **Oura Church**, built in 1864, stands as the technical terminus of this era, the oldest Gothic-style timber frame structure in Japan, engineered with stained glass imported from France.
Technical Note: The Maria Kannon
Small ceramic statues of the deity Kannon were modified with hidden crosses or specific gestures to serve as a private archive for the Virgin Mary.
Archive Spec: UNESCO Site #1574
Documenting the transition of 'Hidden Christian Sites in the Nagasaki Region' from underground practice to public heritage.
Engineering Spec: Hashima Island
The Battleship Island.
**Gunkanjima** (Hashima) is a technical record of the Meiji Industrial Revolution. This undersea coal mining island achieved a population density nine times that of Tokyo at its peak. The structure is archived for its early 20th-century concrete architecture, Japan's first multi-story reinforced concrete apartment complexes, designed to withstand the brutal typhoons of the East China Sea.
Industrial Note: Undersea Shafts
Mining operations reached 1,000 meters below sea level, a technical feat of 19th-century engineering supported by Mitsubishi.
The Peace Guardians.
Mapping the individuals and movements that transitioned Nagasaki from a site of tragedy to a global archive of resilience.
Dr. Takashi Nagai
The "Saint of Urakami." A radiologist who, despite fatal injuries, archived the medical effects of the blast while living in a 2-mat hut (Nyokodo), providing a technical record of survival and selfless recovery.
The One-Legged Torii
A structural guardian. The Sanno Shrine Torii, with only one pillar remaining after the blast, stands as a technical witness to the thermal wave’s directional pressure and the city's refusal to collapse.
The Peace Statue
Designed by Seibo Kitamura, the 10-meter bronze archive synthesizes Western and Eastern spiritual gestures—a technical prayer for eternal peace and global nuclear abolition.
Engineering Spec: Dejima Outpost
Nanban Outpost.
**Dejima** represents the technical archive of Japan’s "Sakoku" (Isolation) period. This artificial, fan-shaped island served as the only valve for Western science, medicine, and trade for over two centuries. Modern restoration has archived 25 buildings to their 19th-century specs, demonstrating the structural synthesis of Japanese timber and European interior logistics.
Observation Tip: The Main Gate Bridge
Reconstructed in 2017, the bridge utilizes traditional stone-masonry techniques to reconnect the island to the mainland, symbolizing the end of isolation.
The Foreign Settlement.
Documenting the 19th-century 'Bungalo' architecture born from the hillside topography.
The Glover House
The oldest Western-style wooden building in Japan (1863). It archives a unique technical synthesis: British colonial bungalow design (wide verandas and stone floors) combined with Japanese traditional roof tiling and carpentry. This structure was the logistical nerve center for Thomas Glover’s industrial modernization of Japan.
Oranda-zaka (Dutch Slopes)
The technical infrastructure of the hillside settlement. These cobblestone paths were engineered with specialized drainage systems to manage the heavy seasonal rainfall of the Kyushu coast. The 'Dutch' naming archives a linguistic artifact—locals referred to all Westerners as 'Dutch' due to the long history of the Dejima outpost.
Technical Pioneers.
Documenting the industrial and medical milestones that debuted in the Nagasaki harbor.
Japan's First Railway
In 1865, Thomas Glover demonstrated a steam locomotive on the Nagasaki waterfront—years before the Shimbashi-Yokohama line—marking the technical birth of Japanese rail.
Invention Hub • 1865Marine Engineering
Nagasaki engineered Japan's first Western-style steamship, the 'Kanrin Maru' docks, and the first modern shipyards, setting the metallurgical standard for the nation's navy.
Industrial MilestoneWestern Medicine
The first smallpox vaccinations in Japan were performed in Nagasaki by Otto Mohnike in 1849, archiving the city's role as the nation's primary medical gateway.
Medical First • 1849