 Nagasaki Prefecture (長崎県, Nagasaki-ken) - A
prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. The
capital is the city of Nagasaki.
Nagasaki borders Saga Prefecture on the east, and is
otherwise surrounded by water, including Ariake Bay, the
Tsushima Straits, and the East China Sea. It also includes a
large number of islands such as Tsushima and Iki. Most of
the prefecture is near the coast and there are a number of
ports such as Nagasaki and the United States naval base at
Sasebo.
 Nagasaki Prefecture, a unification of former provinces of
Hizen, Tsushima, and Iki, has had close ties with foreign
civilization for centuries. Facing China and Korea, the
region around Hirado was a traditional center for traders
and pirates.
During the 16th century, Catholic missionaries and traders
from Portugal arrived and became active in Hirado and
Nagasaki, which became a major center for foreign traders.
After being given free rein in Oda Nobunaga's period, the
missionaries were forced out little by little, until
finally, in the Tokugawa era, Christianity was banned under
the Sakoku policy. After the prohibition of Christianity in
the Edo period, foreign trade was restricted to Chinese and
Dutch traders in Nagasaki, Dejima, but Kirishitan (Japanese
Christian) worship continued underground. These Kakure
Kirishitan (hidden Christians) were tried at every step,
forced to step on fumi-e ("trample pictures", images of the
Holy Mother Mary and saints) to prove that they were
non-Christian. And with the banishment of all Catholic
missionaries, traders from Catholic countries were also
forced out of the country. Along with them, their children,
half Japanese and half European, were also forced to leave
the country. The majority was sent to Jagatara (Jakarta) and
are still remembered by the locals as the people who wrote
the poignant letters which were smuggled across the sea to
their homeland. Today, Nagasaki has a prominent Chinatown[1]
and Catholic churches.
During the Meiji Restoration, Nagasaki and Sasebo became
major ports for foreign trade, and eventually major naval
bases and shipbuilding centers up to World War II. On August
9, 1945, a United States bomber dropped an atomic bomb on
Nagasaki, which was reconstructed after the war.
Thirteen cities are located in Nagano Prefecture:
Gotō
Hirado
Iki
Isahaya
Matsuura
Minamishimabara
Nagasaki (capital)
Omura
Saikai
Sasebo
Shimabara
Tsushima
Unzen
Information source: “Nagasaki Prefecture.” wikipedia.org. Article
date: 20 Feb. 2008. Retrieved: Wikipedia. 4 Mar. 2008 <Nagasaki Prefecture>. |
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