Meiji
Nagasaki · 明治Browse Nagasaki’s cultural heritage from the Meiji period (1868 – 1912). Filter by type and keyword, with concise stories, maps, and travel tips.
Discover the Former Shitsu Relief Institution (Kyū Shitsu Kyūjōin), an Important Cultural Property and UNESCO World Heritage component in Nagasaki. Built by French priest Father de Rotz in 1883 to empower local women, this historic vocational facility features unique De Rotz Wall construction and tells the story of faith and social welfare in Japan's Sotome district.
Discover Shitsu Church (出津教会堂), a National Important Cultural Property and UNESCO World Heritage component in Nagasaki. Built in 1882 by French missionary Father Marc Marie de Rotz, this brick church with white plastered walls stands on a hilltop overlooking the East China Sea, symbolizing the end of 250 years of Hidden Christian faith.
The Former Latin Seminary, located within the grounds of Oura Church in Nagasaki, was built in 1875 to train Japanese Catholic priests following the end of Japan's centuries-long ban on Christianity. Designed by French missionary Father de Rotz in a distinctive timber-framed brick style, this three-story Important Cultural Property now serves as the Oura Church Christian Museum.
Discover Komaneki Bridge, a graceful 1903 stone arch bridge on the campus of Nagasaki University. A Registered Tangible Cultural Property and the last surviving structure of the former Nagasaki Higher Commercial School.
Standing proudly along a national highway in central Shimabara, Nagasaki, the Maruichi Funeral Hall is a three-story dozō-zukuri storehouse with an extraordinary biography. Built as a Kobayashi family sake brewery in the late Meiji era, it was later relocated and reused successively as a silk mill, a railway property, an incense factory, and finally a funeral hall. With a ridge height of 14 meters and a footprint of 580 square meters, it is among the largest surviving Meiji-era timber storehouses in Kyushu, and was added to Japan's Registered Tangible Cultural Properties in 2014 for its remarkable scale, layered history, and well-preserved late-Meiji character.
The Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Nagasaki Shipyard Hammerhead Crane, also known as the Giant Cantilever Crane, is a 62-meter-tall, 150-ton-capacity electric crane imported from Scotland in 1909. The first hammerhead crane installed in Japan, it is internationally recognized as the world's oldest hammerhead crane still in active operation. It was registered as a National Tangible Cultural Property in 2003 and inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage component of Sites of Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution in 2015. Visitors can admire its towering silhouette from Nagasaki Mizube no Mori Park and harbor cruises.
The Yumiharidake Observatory, perched atop Mount Yumihari in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, was built in 1965 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Saikai National Park. Designed by renowned structural engineer Tsuboi Yoshikatsu using HP shell construction and adorned with a relief by sculptor Hongō Shin, it was registered as a national tangible cultural property in 2025. Visitors enjoy panoramic views of the Kujukushima islands, Sasebo Port, and the city skyline, along with nightscapes recognized among Japan's Top 100 Night Views.
Discover Ryotei Harumi, a Meiji-era ryotei in Nagasaki City registered as a Tangible Cultural Property in 2015, where elegant shoin-style architecture meets the historic shippoku cuisine born from Japan's 400 years of cross-cultural exchange.