Directory_and_Chronicle_1917 — Page 719

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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 admirably 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 subdue 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.

The

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 1905; 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. 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 Mitsubishi 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 several large ocean-going steamers averaging 12,000 tons have recently been launched there. A battle cruiser of 27,500 tons displacement has also been constructed there and a battleship of over 30,000 tons displacement is building. During the past few years 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 exten- sion 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 passage 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 1915 the imports were valued at Yen 7,829,518, while exports amounted to Yen 4,639,673.

The population of the port has increased greatly during recent years. In Decem- ber, 1915, it was returned as 174,077, nearly double what it was twenty years ago. The foreign population, exclusive of Chinese, was 257. The Chinese numbered 858. An English newspaper, the Nagasaki Press, is published daily.