Inasayama Travel Guide: A Stunning Viewpoint for One of the “New Three Great Night Views of the World”

The night view from the Mt. Inasa Observatory is known as the “10-million-dollar night view” and captivates everyone who visits.
The distinctive shape of Nagasaki City surrounding Nagasaki Port, along with its basin-like geography framed by mountains, creates a one-of-a-kind scene you can only see here.
From the Mt. Inasa Observatory, you can enjoy this scenery in a sweeping 360-degree panorama.
While the night view often gets the spotlight, the sunset is just as impressive.
Watching all of Nagasaki City gradually turn orange is truly moving.
Depending on the weather and a bit of luck, you may also see a dreamy sea of clouds in the early morning.
Be sure to enjoy that, too.

From inside the ropeway, which offers a 360-degree view, you can take in Nagasaki City’s streets up close with nothing in the way.
In contrast, the slope car’s interior is designed with a forest theme, letting you fully enjoy views of the mountains and sea spread out below.
The ropeway and slope car were designed by KENOKUYAMADESIGN, led by industrial designer Kiyoyuki Okuyama.
Okuyama is also known for designing Ferraris.

Inasayama Park has a monkey enclosure and a deer ranch, where you can observe monkeys and deer from up close.
The monkey enclosure is home to around 20 Japanese macaques, and the deer ranch keeps around 50–60 sika deer—like a small zoo.
You can catch glimpses of their daily life, and feeding experiences are also available.

The ropeway and slope car make it easy to reach the summit of Mt. Inasa, but you can also walk up.
Mt. Inasa is 1,093 feet (333 m) high, and it takes around 1 hour to reach the top.
The trail is well paved and easy to climb, and you can enjoy sweeping views over Nagasaki City while feeling close to nature.

Kujukushima is a group of 208 islands of various sizes. This viewpoint is one of the “Kujukushima Eight Views,” selected by Sasebo City as a recommended spot for enjoying the islands’ scenery.
An observatory has been set up in a place that looks down over the ria coast, where a complex coastline continues around a small bay, allowing you to see firsthand the surrounding sea said to have the highest island density in Japan.

This observatory sits in the central part of the Tawara-ga-ura Peninsula, which faces two seas—Sasebo Bay and the Goto-nada Sea—and offers a wonderful panoramic view of Kujukushima.
The grand seascape is often praised as the best in Sasebo, and it’s a must-see not only in the daytime but also at the magical time when the sun sets.
In recent years, it has become firmly established as a photogenic spot on social media, drawing many visitors from Japan and abroad.

It has three accommodation buildings—the main building, the annex, and a new building—and stands on a hill overlooking Nagasaki Port and the city.
Spread out before you are houses built along the mountainside and ferries departing from Nagasaki Port. At night, a jewel-like curtain of lights opens up, revealing a Nagasaki view you’ll want to gaze at forever.
With the hope that guests will enjoy such special moments, every room has an ocean view.
Beautiful scenery also spreads out from the bathroom, and it’s fun to look for major Nagasaki sights such as Oura Cathedral and the Former Glover House, both recognized as World Heritage sites.

More than 10 picturesque stone bridges span the Nakashima River, which flows through central Nagasaki City, and Meganebashi Bridge is one of them—and the oldest in Japan.
It’s a stone bridge said to have been built in 1634 by Mokushi Nyojo Zenji, the second head priest of Kofukuji Temple. Measuring 72 feet (22 m) long and 12 feet (3.65 m) wide, it is designated as an Important Cultural Property of Japan.

A large, mixed-use shopping complex packed with entertainment facilities, including daily necessities and lifestyle goods, fashion, accessories, a large cinema, amusement facilities, and a sports club.
On the first floor, it also has a bus terminal, serving as a transportation hub where local route buses and highway buses arrive and depart.

An open-air museum preserving the former foreign settlement of merchants who came to Nagasaki from overseas more than 160 years ago.
Set on hilly ground overlooking Nagasaki Port, it’s filled with attractions throughout the grounds.
In addition to a shared water tap from the Meiji era and one of Japan’s earliest asphalt roads still in place, there’s also the romantic “Heart Stone” legend—said to make love come true if you find the heart-shaped stone embedded in the pathways.

A small, star-awarded Japanese restaurant quietly hanging its noren curtain on the 4th floor of a building.
Owner Hiroto Ito, who has built experience at various restaurants in Nagasaki and beyond, serves course-style Japanese cuisine that brings out the best of carefully selected ingredients.
Valuing inspiration drawn from the ingredients, each playful dish delivers a continuous stream of surprise and delight.

“Nagasaki Wagyu Yakiniku Pyua” is a yakiniku specialty restaurant near Shinchi Chinatown.
It’s just a short walk from the Nagasaki Electric Tramway “Shinchi Chinatown” stop.
Recognized in and outside the prefecture as a key place for promoting the quality of Nagasaki wagyu, it has long been used by locals as well.

“Bistro Bordeaux” is located in the Hamamachi Arcade in Nagasaki City.
It’s a Western-style restaurant known as one of the originators of “Turkish rice.”
It’s widely recognized as a place that serves Nagasaki’s signature dishes.
They carefully prepare and serve seafood from the waters near Nagasaki, locally grown vegetables, A5-rank “Nagasaki wagyu,” and more.

An accommodation known for its location with sweeping views over the city of Nagasaki, selected as one of the “New Three Great Night Views of the World.”
Built on a hill overlooking Nagasaki Port, it offers an open, port-town feel by day, and at night, jewel-like lights fill the windows and enchant visitors.

A charming hotel with an international feel, incorporating a Southern European Portuguese-inspired design.
Its look—white walls, orange roofs, and a stone-paved courtyard—stands out, giving it a presence that seems to symbolize Nagasaki’s history of intercultural exchange.
Inside, antique furniture and tile decorations called azulejos create a space reminiscent of a Southern European residence.

Born in 2019 as a hotel that carries on the spirit of hatago hospitality, inspired by Nagasaki’s history as a place connected to overseas trade and cultural exchange since the Edo period.
The lobby has an atmosphere where strangers can easily gather, with a comfortable space that feels like your living room at home.