How can it be like Chongqing? It is unique, and no other city can claim to be like it!

Preface

To gain a deep understanding of a country, it is not enough to just watch videos and pictures. I always believe that seeing is believing, so I really like to explore those small cities that are often overlooked but full of character.

When it comes to traveling to Japan, Kyushu is often an easily overlooked destination. There are no prosperous cities like Tokyo and Osaka, nor are there ancient cities full of Japanese style. Most of the time, it only exists in the hearts of Chinese tourists as a stopover point for cruise ships departing from Shanghai.

In Kyushu, the largest cities Fukuoka and Kumamoto are certainly attractive, but this time I would like to introduce Nagasaki, a port city located in the west, which is also a city that has left a special mark on modern history.

Nagasaki's "Emotions"

Japanese people often use the word "情緒がある" to describe a place with a fascinating and unique atmosphere. In my opinion, Nagasaki is such a place.

As the only open port during Japan's isolation era, Nagasaki locals often describe it as "the intersection of Eastern and Western cultures." The city retains a wealth of Western architecture, such as the Gothic Oura Cathedral, and traces of Chinese culture, such as Chinatown, creating a uniquely exotic atmosphere. This historical heritage gives Nagasaki "a European town feel with an Oriental charm." Due to its close historical exchanges with places like Fuqing, Fujian, Nagasaki's cuisine, festivals, and dialect are richly infused with Chinese influences.

The biggest reason why this city attracted me was the city itself. Nagasaki is a port city. Looking at the map, the main urban area basically surrounds the harbor, extending inland away from the port. The entire city is spread out on hilly slopes, making the city very three-dimensional.

A stroll through Nagasaki reveals a variety of slopes, or sloping paths. The city has very little flat land, and most residential buildings are built on sloping slopes. The prosperous urban areas near the port are carved out of the mountain. With houses built along the hillsides, the undulating urban layout has earned it the nickname "Japan's Little Chongqing."

The proximity of the harbor and the multi-dimensional cityscape have earned Nagasaki a place alongside Hong Kong and Morocco as one of the "New World's Three Great Night Views." While the night view from Mount Inasa takes first place, my recommendation is the Nabekanyama Observation Deck, which overlooks Mount Inasa across the sea.

It is not easy to get here. The recommended route is to start from Oura Catholic Church and go up along the Aioi Jigoku-zaka. The road goes up along the houses. At the top is the Guoguanshan Observation Deck. Looking down from here, you can fully appreciate the value of the three major night views of the New World.

Nagasaki is a mountainous region, and residents have to climb hills every day to commute. Yet, they've developed a unique "Nagasaki time": trains chug along at a leisurely pace, housewives chat mid-slope, and tourists who ask for directions are whisked directly to their destination. One teahouse owner said, "I can regain the patience I lost in Tokyo in Nagasaki."

I love the saying "travel like a local," so when I arrived in Nagasaki, I took to walking the slopes like a local, taking in this small city with my feet. When I got tired, I looked back and saw small houses scattered across the hillside like stars, giving me a sense of detachment from reality.

Indeed, the aforementioned Aioi Jigokuzaka is a filming location for Makoto Shinkai's anime "Your Name." This single image alone is enough to captivate many. Of course, exploring the city isn't the only way to fully experience it. Nagasaki boasts a well-developed bus and tram system, but there's another way to fully experience the city's charm: renting an electric bike.

Obviously, the locals are well aware of this method, so there are many bicycle rental shops here, and there are also some maps specially made for cityride tourists. For example, CAFE ROUTE provides multiple options from mountain bikes to electric-assisted bicycles, and can also customize cycling routes.

Nagasaki's sloping streets are dotted with old Showa-style shops selling mullet roe and Goto somen noodles. Around the corner, you'll find the cobblestone streets of Dutch Hill and a Gothic church. Locals say, "When you're grocery shopping in Nagasaki, it's common to hold a Chinese steamed bun in your left hand and a Dutch cookie in your right."

Nagasaki dialect is mixed with Dutch words (such as "コッペパン" means bread), and outsiders are referred to as "other countries" (たこくもの) instead of "outsiders" (よそ者), implying pride in "this is a diverse place."

This is also reflected in Nagasaki cuisine.

First created by Chinese expatriate Chen Pingshun (from Fuqing, Fujian) in the late 19th century at the Sihailou restaurant, Nagasaki chanpon (ちゃんぽん) has long been a staple of the city. Originally intended to provide a nutritious and affordable meal for international students, chanpon is a thick noodle base, simmered with over a dozen ingredients, including pork, shrimp, katsuobushi, and bok choy. The broth is so rich and complex, so rich in flavor, that locals often jokingly say, "Champon soup runs in Nagasaki's veins."

The honey cake (kastera) brought by Portuguese missionaries is a must-have for locals when drinking tea. We especially recommend the old shop "Fukusaya". As an old shop selling traditional pastries, they insist on using wooden boxes for packaging, saying that "this is the breathing rhythm of Nagasaki."

Influenced by the Dutch, century-old coffee shops are hidden in the streets and alleys. Elderly people chat about the atomic bomb reconstruction in Nagasaki dialect. The aroma of hand-brewed coffee mixed with the sea breeze brings the unique style of Nagasaki.

Nagasaki's "Rebirth"

The 1945 atomic bombing remains an unavoidable topic in Nagasaki and a part of its collective memory. Today, Nagasaki residents embrace peace and resilience as their guiding principles. Many believe that Nagasaki's recovery demonstrates that "human resilience far outweighs the destructive power of disaster."

The Atomic Bomb Museum and Peace Park in Urakami not only bear witness to history but also serve as a window for spreading anti-war sentiment to the world. An elderly Nagasaki resident once said, "We don't want to be labeled 'victims.' We want to show how to rebuild our lives from the ruins."

Former Nagasaki mayor Motoshima and others once publicly pointed out: "The root cause of the atomic bomb attack was the aggressive war launched by Japanese militarism." This view is shared by most citizens.

They believe that reflection on the war's origins is necessary to avoid confusing the identities of perpetrators and victims. Some survivors, like Nao Tsuboi, have shifted from initially hating the US military to reflecting on Japan's aggression against China. After visiting China, he lamented, "Japan should pay war reparations, and even if China waives them, Japan should take the initiative to bear them." This individual awakening reflects the courage of the people of Nagasaki to transcend the narrative of victimhood and confront their historical responsibility.

This is a heavy history, and precisely because of its heaviness, it is even more important to understand it. As a Nagasaki citizen said, "Peace is not a slogan, but an attitude towards life that grows from every stone slab on the slope."

Nagasaki residents see modern Nagasaki as a city "reborn from trauma, reconciled in diversity." Using history as a mirror and culture as a vessel, they strive to balance the preservation of tradition with modern transformation amidst the tide of globalization. As one resident put it, "Nagasaki's slopes teach us that life doesn't have to rush to the top; the scenery along the way is the ultimate destination."

There is much more to say about Nagasaki. As a port city in western Kyushu, Japan, Nagasaki's historical changes are closely intertwined with maritime trade, religious spread, and the trauma of war.

The story of Nagasaki is as winding and undulating as its slopes. It was a window to the world during the era of national isolation, a pioneer of industrial modernization, a bearer of the tragedy of nuclear explosions during the war, and a blender of diverse cultures in peacetime.

"Nagasaki is like a bowl of cold rice over tea - it looks ordinary, but every grain of rice is full of stories." It doesn't have the sophistication of Tokyo, but the souls of Portuguese missionaries, Fujian merchants, Dutch trading post staff and atomic bomb survivors have all reached reconciliation in the aroma of the bakery at the corner of the slope.