For days when Gunkanjima is inaccessible (or even when it's not), you can tour the island from afar via high-tech video presentations and virtual-reality experiences, most available with English translations. Reserve for the 'mixed-reality' game/tour, in which you try to catch holograms (¥1000 extra) on a virtual-reality Gunkanjima. Discounted tickets available for children up to 18. The museum closes irregularly.
Gunkanjima Digital Museum
Nagasaki
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
2.72 MILES
A still, serene and deeply moving place, Nagasaki's Peace Park commemorates the atomic bombing of the city on August 9, 1945, which reduced the…
2.51 MILES
On 9 August 1945, the world's second nuclear weapon detonated over Nagasaki, and this sombre place recounts the city's destruction and loss of life…
Nagasaki National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims
2.53 MILES
Adjacent to the Atomic Bomb Museum and completed in 2003, this minimalist memorial by Kuryū Akira is a profoundly moving place. It's best approached by…
0.55 MILES
In 1641 the Tokugawa shogunate banished all foreigners from Japan, with one exception: Dejima, a fan-shaped, artificial island in Nagasaki harbour. From…
0.13 MILES
This hilltop church, Japan's oldest (1864), is dedicated to the 26 Christians who were crucified in Nagasaki in 1597. The former seminary and bishop's…
10.69 MILES
From afar, the Unesco World Heritage island of Hashima resembles a battleship, hence its nickname Gunkanjima ('battleship island'). Up close, this long…
29.23 MILES
This hilltop castle was ruled mostly by the Matsudaira clan from the 1660s and played a part in the Shimabara Rebellion. It was rebuilt in 1964. As well…
1.46 MILES
Situated on a forested hilltop and reached via multiple staircases with nearly 200 steps, this enormous shrine was established in 1625. Around the grounds…
Nearby Nagasaki attractions
0.12 MILES
Some two dozen former homes of the city's Meiji-period European residents and other important buildings have been reassembled in this beautifully…
0.13 MILES
This hilltop church, Japan's oldest (1864), is dedicated to the 26 Christians who were crucified in Nagasaki in 1597. The former seminary and bishop's…
0.14 MILES
A Unesco World Heritage site and Japan's oldest wooden Western-style building, this house, and the garden around it, are named for Thomas Glover (1838…
4. Nagasaki Traditional Performing Arts Museum
0.15 MILES
Inside Glover Garden, this museum has a display of the impressive dragons and boat-shaped floats used in the colourful Kunchi Matsuri, and a large-screen…
0.18 MILES
Walker House in Glover Garden is filled with artefacts donated by the Glover and Walker families. Look for both Japanese and Western design touches.
0.19 MILES
Inside Glover Garden, this statue memorialises Japanese opera singer Tamaki Miura, who performed as Cio-Cio-san in Puccini's famous opera Madame Butterfly…
7. Kōshi-byō & Historical Museum of China
0.21 MILES
The jauntily painted Kōshi-byō shrine claims to be the only Confucian shrine built by and for Chinese outside China, and the statues of sages in its…
0.21 MILES
A historic house in the hillside Glover Garden, this important cultural property has been in its original location since the 1860s. The first owner was a…