Huis Ten Bosch (ハウステンボス)

Huis Ten Bosch (ハウステンボス) is a theme park in Nagasaki Prefecture that recreates the Netherlands by displaying real size copies of old Dutch buildings. The name Huis Ten Bosch literally translates into English as "House in the Forest". It is named after Huis ten Bosch, one of the three official residences of the Dutch Royal Family, located in The Hague in the Netherlands and home to Queen Beatrix.

The park features many Dutch-style buildings such as hotels, villas, theatres,museums, shops and restaurants, along with canals, windmills, amusement rides and a park planted in seasonal flowers. The park is open daily from 9.00 a.m. to 9.30 p.m. (9.00 a.m. to 8.30 p.m. from December to February). A day "passport" ticket, covering entry and a number of attractions within the park costs 5,600 yen for adults and 4,400 yen for children. The park can be reached by JR train or bus from Nagasaki. It can also be reached by boat from Nagasaki Airport or from Sasebo.

ハウステンボス は、古いオランダの建物の実際のサイズのコピーを表示することで、オランダを再現し、長崎県のテーマパークです。名前ハウステンボスは、文字通り「森の家」として英語に翻訳。これは、ハウステンボス、3公式オランダのハーグにありますオランダ王室の住居、そしてベアトリクス女王の本拠地の一つにちなんで命名されます。

公園は運河、風車、アミューズメント乗り物や季節の花に植えられ、公園と一緒にそのようなホテル、別荘、劇場、美術館、ショップ、レストランなどの多くのオランダ風の建物を備えています。公園は午前9時から午後9.30（12月から2月に8.30〜午後9.00午前）に毎日オープンしています。大人と子供のための4400円で駐車費5600円内のエントリやアトラクションの数をカバーする日」パスポート」チケット、。公園は、長崎からのJR電車やバスで行くことができます。また、長崎空港から、または佐世保から船で行くことができます。

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Nagasaki Kunchi

The Nagasaki Kunchi is the festival of Suwa Shrine, held annually in Nagasaki on October 7-9. The festival has been celebrated for about 400 years and incorporates different aspects of Chinese and Dutch cultures, which have played a role in the city's history. The festival's name is believed to come from ku-nichi ("9th day"), the ninth day of the ninth month of the lunar calendar.

The festival's highlight are dance and show performances by groups representing Nagasaki's various city districts. Each district (odori-cho), participates only once every seven years, so this festival remains fresh to even the regular viewer.

About five to seven groups perform each year, presenting traditional Japanese dances, Chinese influenced dragon dances or performances involving large floats, many of which are shaped like ships. While some performances are calm and peaceful, others get wild and hectic.

Performances are held at four main venues with paid seating and/or standing areas in the morning and evening of October 7 and in the mornings of October 8 and 9. The four main stages are Suwa Shrine, Otabisho, Yasaka Shrine, and Kokaido.

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Unzen Onsen (雲仙温泉)

Unzen Onsen (雲仙温泉) is a hot spring resort town near the peak of Mount Unzen. Not too far from Nagasaki, the area originally developed as a temple town that in its prime was large enough to be compared to Koyasan. In the Meiji Period, the town became one of Japan's first tourist resorts popular among foreigners, and a hint of Western influenced architecture can still be seen about town. Unzen Onsen's location makes it a good base from which to explore Mount Unzen.

The resort is surrounded on several sides by hot spring fields. Also known as hells (jigoku), these barren rocky areas are littered with billowing steam vents and gushing hot springs from which milky, acidic and sulfurous water bubbles straight up out of the ground. The hells were once used to execute Christian rebels after the failed Shimabara Rebellion, but today its spring water has the more pleasant task of warming up holidaymakers in the ryokan baths around town.

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Castella (カステラ)

Castella (カステラ) is a popular Japanese sponge cake made of sugar, flour, eggs, and starch syrup, although its origins are found in Castilla (In modern-day Spain).

Now a specialty of Nagasaki, the cake was brought to Japan by Portuguese merchants in the 16th century. The name is derived from Portuguese Pão de Castela, meaning "bread from Castile". In the 16th century, the Portuguese reached Japan and soon started trade and missionary work. Nagasaki was then the only Japanese port open for foreign commerce.

Castella's simple taste is a favorite of many Japanese people. There are now many varieties made with ingredients such as powdered green tea, brown sugar, and honey. They may be molded in various shapes; a popular Japanese festival food is baby castella, a bite-sized version.

Photos:

"Peach castella" by photo taken by flckr user Kanko - flickr. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Peach_castella.jpg#/media/File:Peach_castella.jpg

"Castella" by Mahogany_h00r (talk) (Uploads) - Own work. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Castella.jpg#/media/File:Castella.jpg

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