The Dutch trading post has been steadily reconstructed since the 1990s and now contains 19 restored 19th-century buildings — the chief factor's residence, warehouses, the deputy's house, the kitchen. Dejima was originally an island in the harbour but the surrounding land was reclaimed in the early 20th century; the city is currently restoring water on three sides to make the outline visible again. The exhibits inside the buildings are first-rate and the audio guide is excellent. Allow at least 90 minutes. Combine with a walk through Shinchi Chinatown ten minutes south.
Dejima
A story
For 218 years, from 1641 until 1859, the fan-shaped artificial island of Dejima was the sole point of contact between Japan and the Western world. The Dutch traders confined here brought European medicine, astronomy, and clocks; in exchange they got copper, lacquerware, and the right to live in Japan at all. Japanese scholars known as 'rangakusha' — Dutch learning scholars — translated medical and scientific texts on the dock.