NAGASAKI
Nagasaki is a city of great antiquity, and in the early days of European in- tercourse with the Far East was the most important seat of the foreign trade with Japan. It is admira y situated on the south-western coast of the Island of Kiushiu. A melancholy interest attaches to the neighbourhood as the scene of the extinction of Christianity in the empire and the extermination of the professors of that religion in 1637. At the entrance to the harbour lies the celebrated island of Pappenberg, where thousands of Christians are said to have been thrown over the high cliff rather than go through the form of trampling on the Cross. Not far from Nagasaki is also the village of Mogi, where 37,000 Christians suffered death in defending themselves against the forces sent to sublue them. When the Christian religion was crushed and the foreigners expelled, to the Dutch alone was extended the privilege of trading with Japan, and they were confined to a small plot of ground at Nagasaki called "Deshima. By the Treaty of 1858 Nagasaki was one of the ports opened to British trade on the 1st July in the following year.
On entering the harbour of Nagasaki no stranger can fail to be struck with the admirable situation of the town and the beautiful panorama of hilly scenery opened to his view. The harbour is a land-locked inlet deeply indented with small bays, about three miles long with a width varying from half-a-mile to a mile. A reclamation scheme was commenced in October, 1897, and completed in January 1995; 147 acres were reclaimed, and retaining walls measuring nearly five miles in length have been built in front of what were formerly the foreign concessions at Deshima and Megasaki. Simultaneously the harbour has been deepened. The cost of the work was four million yen.
The town is on the eastern side of the harbour, and is about two miles long by about three-quarters of a mile in extreme width. The foreign quarter adjoins the town on the south side. The chief mercantile houses are situated on the bund facing the harbour, behind which are a few streets running parallel with it, and there are a number of private residences on the hill-side. There are English Protestant and Roman Catholic churches, two clubs (Nagasaki and International) and a Masonic Lodge. There are several hotels, of which the largest are the Cliff House, the Hotel du Japan, and the Belle Vue Hotel. The Mitsu Bishi Company own three docks in Nagasaki, the largest of which has a length of 714 feet on the keel blocks and a depth of water at ordinary spring tides of 34ft. 6in. As a shipbuilding centre the place is rapidly developing, and since 1889 several large ocean-going vessels have been launched there. Several vessels built at the yard were completed for sea in 1912, including a gunboat for the Chinese Govern- ment and an ocean-going liner for the Nippon Yusen Kaisha. The work in hand includes two steamers each of 11,000 tons and one of 10,600 for the Nippon Yusen Kaisha, one of 9,540 tons for the Toyo Kisen Kaisha, and a battle cruiser, said to be of 27,000 tons' displacement. During the past year Nagasaki has gained considerable importance as a base for steam trawlers, of which there are now about 120 operating under the Japanese flag. The Municipality has erected a large fish market on the wharf near the railway station and is constructing piers for the use of the trawlers. Special facilities have been granted the trade by the Railway Board and a great development is expected in the near future. The waterworks, owing to the growth of the town, were found to be insufficient for its wants and a large extension of the works was completed in March, 1904. The reservoirs hold 405,240,000 gallons, and there are three filter beds and a service reservoir. The railway develop- ments of recent years have made it possible, with a brief sea passag of ten minutes, between Moji and Shimonoseki, to travel by rail from Nagasaki to Kobe and thence to Tokyo. The climate in Nagasaki is mild and salubrious, and there are several very popular health resorts in the neighbourhood, the most famous being Mount Unzen, on which an excellent nine-hole Golf course was laid out in 1911.
In 1911 the imports were valued at Yen 10,432,770, an increase of Yen 1,513,863 on the figures for 1910, while exports amounted to Yen 3,405.183, an increase of Yen
101,224.
The population of the port has increased greatly during recent years. In Decem- ber, 1911, it was returned as 179,257, nearly double what it was fifteen years ago. The foreign population, exclusive of Chinese, was 275. The Chinese number about 700. An English newspaper, the Nagasaki Press, is published daily. C
!