The 10 Best Must-Buy Souvenirs in Nagasaki, Japan

There are many places of interest here such as the Glover Residence, Mt. Inasa, Huis Ten Bosch and the Unzen hot-spring in the Nagasaki prefecture. When you visit Nagasaki on your holiday, they are very nice places to go, but you will also want to buy some souvenirs, won’t you? It is quite difficult to choose the right ones for your family, friends and co-workers, thinking of their favourites. So, I’m introducing the souvenirs which will definitely please the recipients! Please refer to this article when you choose your souvenirs.

1. The standard souvenir from Nagasaki is this one! [Castella] (sponge cake)

Speaking of the standard souvenir from Nagasaki, it could be castella. As there are so many shops which are selling castella in Nagasaki, you may be confused with which shop you should go to. The recommended shop is the [Fukusaya] which is famous nationwide. Its establishment was in 1624, which is the most long-established shop and the honten (head shop) was constructed in the early Meiji-era.

Their consistent policy since its establishment has been to be particular about the home-made work. They never use a mixer and the skilful confectioner carefully makes castella by hand one by one. People who don’t like castella seem to have the image that castella is dry, but the one from Fukusaya has a rich and moist texture. Nowadays, the castella in the colorful square box named [Fukusa Cube] is popular. It is the perfect souvenir when you have many people to give souvenir to.

2. Only Nagasaki where the exchange with the foreign countries was active in the past can do this! The standard souvenir! [Polt]

The [Polt] is the most popular sweet produced by the Polt Sohonpo which has been open since 1951. It is popular in the local area and many people from the Nagasaki prefecture have been eating it since they were small. The Polt was born in 1955 and was named, taking after the Portuguese port. The filling which has the texture like Yokan (soft red-bean jelly) using the yuzu (citrus) 100% produced in the Ikishima Island is placed between the crispy fragrant biscuits baked using many local eggs.

When you put it in your mouth, the fragrance of the citrus spreads refreshingly and the sweetness of the granulated sugar coated around the biscuits are well balanced. You can have the food menu such as the Turkish rice and beef-stew starting with the lemon-steak which is the famous product from Sasebo as well as the sweets such as parfait, milk-shake and fruits-anmitsu (agar-cube sweet) at the Hakujuji Fruit Parlor next to the Polt Honten. It’s good to drop in at the shop when you are out shopping.

3. This Nagasaki well-known product has become a sweet! The best for a souvenir! [Sara-udon chocolate]

The Sara-udon (wheat noodle) is the major noodle dish in Nagasaki along with the Chanpon. The Sara-udon is the dish of crispy noodles topped with a lot of vegetables in the sweet soy glaze. The unbelievable collaboration with the chocolate has been realized! Since its establishment in 1964, the [Mirokuya] has been dealing with Chanpon and Sara-udon and has started selling a brand-new type of chocolate in 2011.

The [Mirokuya] is proud of its fried noodle made from the top-class wheat flour. The rice puff is added to the crispy and flaky noodles and it is coated with the Belgian chocolate. The 4 chocolate based and the 3 white chocolate based are in a pretty pink box and they are just right for souvenirs. As they are individually wrapped, they are convenient for dividing.

4. The oldest sweet shop in Nagasaki. The popular souvenir which is made by the long-established shop established in 1502

The Kakuni-manju is the confection adopted from Portugal and has been loved throughout 400 years and it is said that it had been handed over by the Portuguese missionary. You can buy one at the oldest shop in the Nagasaki prefecture, [Hirado Tsutaya] which has been open since 1502. It has long presided as the purveyor to the Matsuura clan in the Hirado-han (feudal domain). As it was made using plenty of sugar as well as eggs which were very precious at that time, it was the top-class sweet which only the Emperor was allowed to eat.

Nowadays, it is proud of its unshakable popularity as a souvenir from Nagasaki. Casdoce starts the process from a castella. Only high-quality wheat flour, eggs and sugar produced in Japan are used. Dip the castella into the fresh egg-yoke produced in the Nagasaki prefecture, soak in the boiled syrup and fry it. At the moment, the 24th family head is carefully making them one by one with the traditional process which has been handed down for a long time at Tsutaya.

5. The well-known Nagasaki product! You may get addictive to the juicy Kakuni (boiled pork cube)! [Nagasaki Kakuni-manju]

When you walk in the Nagasaki Shinchi China Town, you can often see the Kakuni-manju.On your holiday, you may buy one and eat it while walking, I guess. If you like its taste, you will want to buy some as your souvenirs, won’t you? Now, it has obviously become one of the famous Nagasaki products, but originally it was the Nagasaki local dish Dong Po Rou (pork dish) which was one of the dishes on the Shippoku course. The founder of the Iwasaki Honpo devised it to be much easier to handle and more enjoyable.

The Kakuni-manju from the [Iwasaki Honpo] requires a lot of work. Firstly, boil the pork back ribs, removing the harshness and saturate the flavour in the special broth. Taking one day, remove the excessive fat and wrap the softly cooked pork back ribs with the fluffy sheet.

There are various types of Kakuni-manju, such as the Ohtoro-kakuni-manju (juicy one), the 6-day-cooking-kakuni-manju and the half-size-kakuni-manju for children. You can choose any of them depending on who you want to give it to.

6. The traditional gourmet which has been handed down on the Islands of Nagasaki [Goto-udon]

The [Goto-udon] has been handed down from generation to generation on the Goto archipelago in the Nagasaki prefecture. It is counted as one of the 3 Japanese major udons along with the Sanuki-udon in the Kagawa prefecture and the Inaniwa-udon in the Akita prefecture. There are various views though, and it is said that it was conveyed from the continent of China during the Kentoshi-era (Japanese envoy to Tang Dynasty China). It has a 1,000-year-history. There are 30 noodle making factories in Shinkamigotocho and the locals always stock their favourite dried noodles.

The most famous way of eating the Goto-udon is [Jigokudaki]. Boil the udon in the piping hot boiled water in a pot and eat it directly from the pot while it is very hot. The dipping sauce is Ago-dashi (flying fish broth), but you can dip it in the soy-sauce with a raw egg and chopped leek.

Its characteristic is thin but firm and with a tough texture. As it tastes very smooth on the way down, you could eat it forever. If you want to buy some as your souvenirs, the products from the [Marufuji noodle making factory] are recommended. They have been making the noodles with the traditional skill using the wheat flour which was developed with the collaboration of the flour making company and the special products on the island, camellia oil and natural salt from the sea, being particular about the ingredients.

7. Handed down tradition The souverir [Yori yori] which is carefully made by hand

It is a popular sweet from the long-established Manjun confectionary and it has been producing and selling the Chinese sweet since its opening in 1884. It is a fried sweet using the wheat flour and sugar as its main ingredients and is made by hand one by one just like in weaving. The hard texture is characteristic. It used to be called [Mahoa] because of the resemblance to the flower of hemp or [Zei-mahoa] due to the fragility.

The beauty of the sweet gained a good reputation, but the Chinese name was difficult to read, so the 3rd generation named it [Yori yori]. They have been developing the product which matched the times,taking over the traditional skill and flavour from the founder. Even now, they are carefully making them by hand, being particular about it being hand-made.

Also, the [Chiyori] which is made for easier eating is popular. They are in colourful pretty boxes, so they are just right as souvenirs. They are also producing the Kinsen-mochi (rice cake), Geppei and Casudoru. They have the directly managed shop at the foot of the Meganebashi (bridge) which is a popular sightseeing spot. Please drop in at the shop when you are out sightseeing.

8. The Nagasaki local sweet using the hot-spring water It is the most suitable as a souvenir [Yu-sembei]

It is the local sweet which represents Unzen. It is made from 100% hot-spring water from the Obama hot-spring together with wheat flour, egg and sugar. The water of the hot-springs in the Unzen area has the dense sulphur content which doesn’t suit making sweets. At the beginning of the Meiji-era, the feudal lord of the Shimabara domain, Tadakazu Matsudaira had sweets made using the high quality water from the Obama hot-spring. That was the beginning of this sweet.

In 1884, it was for sale as the famous product from Obama. It is an unfussy sweet with a crispy texture and the gentle and subtle sweetness spreads in the mouth. At the Miyakeshoten which opened its business in 1910, you can buy the [Yu-sembei] baked using the conventional baking mold. The founder, Matsuyuki Miyake baked the round shaped [Yu-sembei] in 1917 and he used the bird’s eye view in fashion at that time on its package.

The special colourful package has a string, so it is easy to carry and convenient. It seems to please the recipient. There are the miso and sesame flavours apart from the plain one. They are also selling the [Mimi] (crust), the part which sticks out of the mold during baking. You can choose those for yourself.

9. The dish which was conveyed to Nagasaki by the merchant 360 years ago [Karasumi]

The [Karasumi] was conveyed by the merchant in 1655. At that time, it wasn’t made from the eggs of Bora (striped gray mullet)-roe but from Sawara (Spanish mackerel)-roe. In 1675, the founder of Takanoya, Yusuke made a product from the Bora-roe which came as a large haul in the Nagasaki home waters. That was the beginning of [Karasumi].

From 1712, it had been offered as a purveyance to the Imperial Court and the Shogun and it was named Karasumi due to the resemblance to the Sumi (Chinese solid ink) of Kara (Tang). The Karasumi was the only one product for Takanoya since its establishment. The taste as well as the skill from the founder was handed down from the father to only one of his sons. After laying down the salt preserve Bora-roe in the stock, add some more salt and pickle it. And then desalinate it with water, shape it and dry it. As it is a time consuming work, the price is never cheap.

However, it is worth trying it just once. It can be a nibble with an alcoholic drink or can be used as a relish. Takanoya has been selling the sliced one and the powderrd one as well. So, it will be best as a souvenir and for yourself.

10. Only one town has the famous water The famous product from Shimabara in the Nagasaki prefecture [Shimabara-somen]

Shimabara is a town with the famous clean water which flows out everywhere. The famous product in Shimabara is somen, isn’t it? Its history is long, since the Shimarara-no-ran (Shimabara Rebellion) in 1637.

As the Shimabara-no-ran caused depopulation, the Bakufu (Shogunate) carried out the immigration policy for the purpose of the restoration of the farming village. The immigrants gathered from all over the country and some of them came from the Shodoshima Island and the Nara prefecture. It is said that those people handed down the making of somen. Would you like to visit the [Men-no-yamaichi Mensho-no-sato] where you can learn about the somen culture and can experience somen-nobashi (beating out somen)?

The [Men-no-yamaichi] which received the recognition of the international standard, ISO 9000, regarding the quality control and guarantee for the first time in the hand-stretched somen industry.The [Men-no-yamaichi] completely administers from the ingredients production to the sales and has been consolidating making the safe, secure and tasty somen. At the [Mensho-no-sato], there is the unique somen in which the powder of wakame-seaweed, black sesame, purple potato and hijiki-seaweed are put in the dough, starting with the outlet goods limited to the directly managed shops. It is delicious not only in summer but also in winter, if it is boiled.

Let’s choose a souvenir which will please the recipient!

I’ve introduced the products which make choosing souvenirs enjoyable. If you think about the happy faces of people who you will give your souvenirs to, you can enjoy the time to choose those products, can’t you? Of course, some of them are just for yourself too! The Nagasaki prefecture has many sightseeing spots such as the Huis Ten Bosch (Dutch street) and Gunkanjima Island (Warship Island). When you visit Nagasaki, please refer to this article and choose your favourite souvenirs.