Nagasaki Shinchi the Oldest Chinatown in Japan

 

By the 17th century there were Chinese settlements all over Kyushu engaged in trade. In 1635 the Japanese government restricted all trade to the single port of Nagasaki, and so the Chinese moved there.

It is thought that around one sixth of the population of Nagasaki were Chinese, but they were not confined like the Dutch traders on Dejima.

However, by the late 17th century the Shogunate became increasingly concerned about smuggling and so a walled and gated  compound called Tojin Yashiki was constructed and all Chinese confined there.

In 1859 the Japanese policy of national seclusion ended and Tojin Yashiki was demolished and many of the Chinese residents moved to the Shinchi area.

For two weeks after the Chinese New Year the Nagasaki lantern Festival is held is held at several sites across Nagasaki, including Shinchi.

I visited a few days after it had finished but floats and other evidence of the festival still remained.

I did not spend any time exploring Shinchi as I was far more interested in the nearby area of the former Tojin Yashiki. The previous post in this series was on Dejima, the Dutch settlement.

Iriomote Island Snapshots

 

Iriomote Island, 90 percent covered in fairly impenetrable jungle and mangrove swamps has a thriving pineapple industry and has recently started a pineapple beer festival.

I will post more on Iriomote beaches later, but here are a couple of shots of singular objects embedded in the sand.

Not much text today, just photos to enjoy...

An almost circular hole in a tidal rock is filled with bits of coral

Of course a wide variety of flowers can be found.....

A couple of coastal settlements have small areas of rice paddies.

Compared to mainland Japan, the coastline of Iriomote has relatively little in the way of tetrapods and other concrete fortifications.

A rare sight anywhere in Japan, a free-grazing cow at pasture.

The previous post in this Okinawa series was on the Urauchi River and Mariudo Falls.

Dejima

 

A scale model, made in 1976, showing how Dejima looked around 1820, is on display at the reconstructed island "home" of the Dutch traders in Nagasaki during the Edo Period.

The Dutch, the only Europeans allowed to trade, lived here from 1641 to 1859 after being moved here from nearby Hirado. The Portuguese were on Dejima for a few years prior to that before they were all expelled from Japan.

The only Japanese people allowed into the compund were government officials and prostitutes.

Some of the buildings only date back as far as the Meiji Period, after Japan "opened" and a larger foreign presence was established. This was the International Club, built in 1903, by foreign residents as a social meeting place.

The first protestant seminary was established here in 1878.

Restoration and rebuilding continues and over time more interiors will be finished and opened to visitors.

As well as the "foreign" buildings, there are some purely Japanese structures where government officials conductd business.

Gradually more restoration work is bring done on the waterways around Dejima to bring it back to its historical state.

The previous post in this series exploring Nagasaki was the nearby  Nagasaki Prefectural Museum of Art

The Approach to Futagoji Temple

 

Mount Futago lies in the middle of the Kunisaki Peninsula in Oita, and Futago-ji Temple is situated about halfway up the 720 meter high volcanic peak.

From Mount Futago 28 valleys radiate out, one for each "chapter" of the Lotus Sutra, and with more than 32,000 stone statues, one for each character of the sutra, the peninsula is considered a "map" of the sutra and is home to an ancient yamabushi pilgrimage route.

Rougo Manzan is the name given to the syncretic religious system of the area based on a mix of mountain worship along with Usa Hachiman and Tendai Buddhism.

Futagoji, founded in the early 8th century continues to lie at the heart of this system and the area.

A modern road leads up to parking areas closer to the main temple buildings, but the best approach is the traditional one, crossing the Mumei Bridge and then up a long flight of ancient stone stairs passing though the mountain gate, said to be the oldest temple gate in the Kunisaki area.

The pair of stone nio were made in the early 19th century and at 245cms are the biggest stone Nio in Kunisaki. After passing through the gate the path leads past a large pond with a Benzaiten or Suijin Shrine.

On this visit I was on the last day of a 5 day walk crisscrossing the Kunisaki Peninsula hunting Autum Colours. The previous post was a Yasaka Shrine down the road.

Nagasaki Prefectural Museum of Art

 

The Nagasaki Prefectural Museum of Art opened in 2005 on the waterfront of Nagasaki City.

It is located astride a channel whose walkways are public thourouhfares. The roof gardens are also public spaces.

It was designed by the renowned Japanese architect Kuma Kengo.

The permanent collection concentrates on art, in a wide variety of media, connected to Nagasaki since the Meiji Period.

The museum is also home to the Suma collection of hisorical and modern Spanish world collected by the former Envoy to Spain during WWII, Suma Yakichiro.

I did not go inside so I have no report on the art or the interior architecture.

Earlier on my walk around Kyushu I visited another Kuma Kengo building, the Kyushu Geibunkan.

The previous post in this series exploring Nagasaki was the nearby Nagasakiminato Ferry Terminal.