Ohana was the residence of the Tachibana family, the feudal lords of Yanagawa Domain during the Edo period, and is an Important Cultural Property that stands in vast grounds. This area is full of highlights: in addition to a garden, there is a restaurant, Japanese-style eatery, hotel, and the Tachibana Museum, where you can experience the history of Yanagawa.

Steamed eel (unagi seiro mushi) is characterized by adding freshly grilled eel on top of rice and steaming them together. The plump eel and the rice soaked with eel fat are superb.

This popular activity involves travelling around the canals that retain the elegance of the Edo period in a boat steered by a boatman. From the boat, you can enjoy seasonal sights such as cherry blossoms and irises on the banks.

*There are some boats that offer other languages. Please ask each boat for details.

Visitors can eat a variety of foods, including the ever-present tonkotsu ramen, motsunabe hotpot, and yakitori chicken skewers. Why not try some proactive communication at a yatai stall? Interacting with local people is one of the joys of travel. After eating, we recommend a stroll along the river to enjoy the night scenery.

Dejima played a vital role as a hub for trade during Japan’s years as a closed country. We recommend renting a kimono and taking photos with the old-fashioned streetscape as your backdrop, or joining a tour with a specialist guide.

With beautiful red gates and lanterns adding color to the streets, this is a bustling area of around 40 buildings, including Chinese restaurants and souvenir shops. Visitors can enjoy authentic Chinese cuisine; Nagasaki’s specialty noodle dishes, “champon” and “sara udon,” are popular choices. A spectacular lantern festival is held for Chinese New Year, which is enthusiastically attended by large numbers of tourists.

Within the terminal, you will find transport company offices, souvenir shops, restaurants, a tourist information center, convenience stores, etc., and you can spot Mt. Onidake from the second-floor observatory. When you arrive, the first thing you should do is pick up helpful pamphlets from the tourist information center.

There are also coin lockers within the terminal. 
 

The construction of Ishida Castle was decided by the 30th lord of Goto. Construction works started in 1849 and were completed in 1863 after 15 years, with more than 50 000 workers taking part to its completion, making it the last castle built in Japan and at that time the only one with three sides directly facing the sea. 

Today, a cultural centre, a high school, the Goto Tourism and Historical Materials Museum, as well as the city's public library are located within the former castle's walls.

Mt. Onidake, a symbol of Goto, is a 315-meter cinder-cone volcano, which last erupted approximately 18,000 years ago. The volcano, which is covered in grass now, is well-known as a venue for an annual kite flying event, and as a leisure and hiking spot.

The Goto Camellia Forest Park features a unique collection of around 259 different cultivars and 2800 camellia trees. The garden located in the park was recognised by the International Camellia Society as a Garden of Excellence in March, 2010. The Camellia Forest park is a must-see in winter, when camellias bloom: you can enjoy a wide variety of camellias from all over Japan. You can also try grass skiing on the park’s lawn.

This giant ako tree is around 250 years old, and at one point was to be cut down. However, thanks to people carrying out conservation activities, it has survived as a great tree that watches over the community.

This stunning beach with emerald-green waters and white sands is easily accessible from the city.
Goto Tsubaki Bussankan, located in the grounds of Tsubaki Chaya, offers a range of hand-made items and souvenirs. You can also participate in camellia oil and salt-making experiences, making this a place to enjoy even outside the sea swimming season.

Enjoy Goto Beef, fresh seafood, and mountain produce in this eatery with stunning sea views.
*Booking required no later than 15:00 the day before you visit

Daihoji was founded in 701, 1st year of Daiho Era at the request of empress emeritus Jito.

A century later, in 806, the famous monk Kukai taught the principles of Shingon Buddhism for the first time on his way back from China. Many cultural treasures are kept in the temple among which some nehan-zu paintings from  Muromachi era (1336-1573), a bronze bell and a monkey sculpture by famous Edo era artist and carpenter Hidari Jingoro.

The story of Imochiura starts when hidden Christians from Omura domain moved to Imochiura to work in salt factories. 

Upon hearing in 1891 that a replica of the Lourdes grotto was being built in  Vatican City, father Pélu who was tasked with reviving the Catholic faith in Goto at the time,  gathered enough beautifully shaped rocks with the help of local believers to build the first Lourdes grotto in Japan in 1899.

Drinking this miraculous water is said to be a cure for many illnesses and the grotto rapidly acquired a holy-ground status among Japanese believers.

The Osezaki Lighthouse is set against a dramatic backdrop of wave-worn cliffs as steep as 150 meters. Although the current lighthouse was built in 1971, the original structure was designed by an Englishman and erected in 1879. A part of it has been turned into a permanent exhibit at the Museum of Maritime Science in Tokyo.

The nearby observatory is a popular spot for both visitors and locals to enjoy the sunset view. For adventurers, you can also walk to the lighthouse. Getting to the lighthouse requires a 2.4km hike (round-trip of about an hour), but intermittent green tunnels created by camellia trees lining both sides of the paved trail make it a pleasant trek. Once at the lighthouse platform, the sight of the stoic white structure combined with the cliffs and surrounding ocean makes it a spectacular and an unforgettable view.

It might just look like a bus stop but there is actually a free foot bath inside where you can soak your feet and chat with the locals. 

Takahama Beach boasts some of the whitest sand and clearest water in Japan. It is not only one of the best-known beaches on the Goto Islands, but also listed as one of Japan’s Top 100 Beaches, and Top 88 Swimming Beaches! This beautiful beach is popular with locals and tourists alike, attracting holidaymakers from all over the country.

The west-facing beach overlooks the Sagano Island and has a wide sandbar that provides a calm shallow swimming area. Silver sand sparkles through the clear water, and the surrounding greenery completes the perfect coastal escape.

For a view of the beach in its entirety, head to “Gyoran Kannon Observatory” (a three-minute drive from the beach) where you can catch a glimpse of the brilliant shades of blue as they change and deepen throughout the day.

This lighthouse is around 15 m tall, and stands in the west of the Miiraku Peninsula, an area connected to the final port of call in Japan of the ships carrying envoys to Tang China. The coastal area and ocean stretching from Takasakibana in Miirakucho to Kashiwazaki and Nagasakibana has been designated as Japan Heritage. You can see the lighthouse as you travel from Fuchinomoto Catholic Graveyard toward Takahama Beach.
*Be cautious when driving here as the road is narrow.

In 1776, 78 people from 14 farming families across the sea moved to Fuchinomoto in Miiraku Village in the hope of settling there. The Catholic graveyard in Fuchinomoto, standing in a corner of the grasslands facing the East China Sea, is the graveyard of the local Christians. It offers a mysteriously beautiful spectacle at sunset, when the orange sun sinks behind the Virgin Mary and the gravestones. Beyond the graveyard lies the East China Sea, where the ships carrying envoys to Tang China sailed, and you can see Sagano Island from here.

Miiraku has the longest history of Christian belief in Goto. The hidden Christians who fled persecution in Omura domain in 1797 secretly continued their faith here. A gothic-style wooden church was completed in 1880, and rebuilt as the current church in 1971.
The bright colors of the modern mosaic wall art were created with shells and ceramics, and the stained glass inside the church is beautifully made, right up to the details, with exquisite use of color and color schemes. The stained glass on the right as you enter the church shows the story of Christ, from birth to resurrection, while the stained glass on the left depicts the history of the Catholics in Goto.

This facility features an exhibit about Goto's role in the Japanese missions to Tang China. There is a souvenir shop and a restaurant that offers many dishes with local ingredients. 

The history of Mizunoura Christians is said to have started when five men from Sotome (located north of Nagasaki City) moved there together with their families in 1797 as part of the Goto and Omura feudal domains policies. 

A first church was built in 1880 but didn’t last long and deteriorated quickly. The church was rebuilt into its current appearance in 1938 by famed architect Yosuke Tetsukawa. 

The lilywhite wooden church, a masterful mix of Romanesque, Gothic and Japanese architecture, is the biggest wooden church in Goto, and the contrast between its white spire and the blue of the seas seems to come right out of a postcard.

The hill behind the church features a statue of St John Soan de Goto and remains of a prison from the ban on Christianity era. 

Come and enjoy Gyogasaki Park’s flower fields all year round!

The park’s beautiful flower fields change with every season: canola fields and hydrangeas in spring, sunflowers during the summer, beautiful cosmos in autumn. 

On sunny days, the contrast between the flowers the sea and the sky is simply breath-taking.

The park also has a campsite and a nearby beach, which makes it the ideal location for summer outdoor activities.

Soon after the ban on Christianity was lifted by the Meiji government, two French missionaries, fathers Fraineau and Marmand, were sent to Goto in order to take part to the revival of the local Christian community.  Father Marmand established a first wooden church in Goto, in 1879.

Dozaki Church was rebuilt in red bricks in 1908 under the guidance of Father Pélu, a missionary who succeeded Marmand and Fraineau. Some of the materials were brought all the way from Italy. The inside of the church is made of wood, with typical stained glass and ribbed vault ceiling. 

Today, various documents and objects showing us the history of the Christians’ persecution are displayed in Dozaki.

The building has been registered as prefectural tangible heritage in 1974.

This is the largest souvenir shop on Fukue Island. In addition to purchasing local specialties, you can also enjoy an extensive cafe menu in the attached cafe—why not drop in?