Japan
Sasebo, Japan
Sasebo: Nagasaki's Hidden Coast and the Gateway to Huis Ten Bosch
Sasebo lies on a deep, sheltered bay in northwestern Kyushu, in the north of Nagasaki Prefecture. Flat land is scarce, so the city center runs as a narrow strip about two kilometers long between the station and city hall, with hills rising close behind it.
Good to know
Overview
Sasebo has two cruise berths, so check which one your ship is using. Miura Wharf, in front of the international terminal building known as Yōkō Terrace, is a six-minute walk from Sasebo Station; the Sasebo Cruise Center at Uragashira, on Hario Island, is about 15 minutes by car from Haiki Station.
- Both berths can take ships of up to about 180,000 tons, and both terminals have customs and immigration facilities.
- The Uragashira terminal was built by Carnival Corporation and finished in July 2020.
- Sasebo is the second-largest city in Nagasaki Prefecture, with about 231,000 people in 2024.
- The harbor is shared by Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force and the US Navy's Fleet Activities Sasebo.
Sasebo on Your Own
From Miura Wharf you can walk to the station, a covered shopping arcade nearly a kilometer long and the downtown burger shops. From Uragashira the nearest station, Haiki, is about 15 minutes away by car, so decide in advance whether the town or Huis Ten Bosch is your goal.
- The arcade: The Yonkachō and Sankachō shopping streets form a single covered arcade 960 meters long, the longest straight arcade in Japan. It is about five minutes' walk from Sasebo Station.
- Lunch: Look for a Sasebo burger shop displaying the city's certification sign, a cartoon of the Sasebo Burger Boy.
- A short ride: Buses from the bus terminal at Sasebo Station reach Kujukushima Pearl Sea Resort in about 25 minutes, for the aquarium and a boat cruise of about 50 minutes among the islands.
- From Uragashira: Huis Ten Bosch is on Hario Island, the same island as the terminal.
- Getting back on time: All-aboard is usually about 30 minutes before sailing, and your ship posts the exact time. A ship will not wait for passengers touring on their own.
- Watch the clock: All-aboard is given in ship's time, which may not match local clocks or your phone.
Getting Around
Downtown Sasebo is easy to cover on foot, and buses and taxis handle the rest. The city has no subway or streetcar, so trains are for trips out of town.
- Seaside Liner rapid trains run from Sasebo Station to Nagasaki in about 100 minutes.
- Huis Ten Bosch is a few stops from Sasebo on the Seaside Liner.
- The Matsuura Railway stops at Sasebo-Chūō Station, right at the arcade.
- City buses leave from the bus terminal in front of Sasebo Station.
What to Eat
Sasebo's own dishes come out of its years as a navy town. The one to try is the Sasebo burger, a name for any hamburger made by hand in the city and cooked only when you order it.
- Sasebo burger: Burgers are said to have arrived around 1950, when people learned the recipe from US Navy personnel. A certification scheme began in January 2007, and certified shops show a sign with the Sasebo Burger Boy cartoon.
- Lemon steak: Thin slices of beef come on a hot iron plate with a lemony soy sauce, and the Sasebo way is to tip your rice onto the plate and mix it with the sauce once the meat is gone. It was created at a Sasebo restaurant in the years after 1955.
- Station lunch: Sasebo Station sells a lemon steak bento box to take away.
- Oysters: Kujūku Islands oysters are one of the city's specialties.
Tipping in Japan
Tipping is not part of Japanese culture, and a tip left on a restaurant table is likely to be handed back to you. Some Western-style hotels and restaurants add a 10% service charge to the bill instead.
- Guides: Tour guides and interpreters are an exception to the no-tipping custom.
- Currency: Japan uses the yen (¥, JPY).
Culture and Sights
Sasebo's sights trace its life as a navy town, and the Kujūku Islands offshore are its natural showpiece. Both museums below are free apart from special exhibitions, and the islands can be seen from the water or from a lookout.
- Sail Tower: The Maritime Self-Defense Force's Sasebo museum shows about 1,300 items covering the Imperial Japanese Navy and today's Maritime Self-Defense Force. You ride the elevator to the seventh-floor lookout over the harbor and walk down floor by floor, and visitors sign in at reception.
- Sasebo City Museum Shimanose Art Center: The city's art and history museum, beside Shimanose Park, has an archaeology room on its fifth floor with finds from local digs, including bean-patterned pottery from Senpukuji Cave.
- Kujūku Islands: The name means ninety-nine islands, but 208 are counted, along about 25 kilometers of coast within Saikai National Park. Tenkaihō, a lookout park on the Tawaragaura Peninsula west of the city center, looks over the southern islands.
- Sasebo tops: Sasebo-goma are wooden throwing tops with an iron tip, painted in five colors, made for fighting other tops and now sold as souvenirs and New Year charms.
A Brief History
Sasebo was a small fishing village under the Hirado Domain until the Imperial Japanese Navy chose its deep, sheltered bay for a base. It grew into one of Japan's main naval ports, was heavily bombed in 1945, and has shared its harbor with the US Navy ever since.
- 1562: The lord Ōmura Sumitada opened Yokoseura, at the mouth of Sasebo Bay, to Portuguese trade. Two years later the trade moved to Fukuda, in today's Nagasaki City.
- 1883: Tōgō Heihachirō, then a lieutenant commander, surveyed the bay and picked it for a naval base, for its deep water, nearby coal and closeness to China and Korea.
- 1889: The Sasebo Naval District opened, and Emperor Meiji came to inspect it the following year.
- 1902: Sasebo became a city, with 45,766 people.
- 1945: An air raid on the night of June 28 and 29 killed 1,242 people, most of them civilians. After the war, ships bringing Japanese home from overseas landed repatriates at Uragashira, who walked to a relief station on the site of today's Huis Ten Bosch.
- 1946: The US Navy took over part of the base as Fleet Activities Sasebo.
- 1950: Sasebo voted overwhelmingly to convert its naval facilities to civilian use, but the Korean War broke out soon after and the port stayed military.
- 1968: The visit of the nuclear-powered carrier USS Enterprise set off large protests.
- 1992: Huis Ten Bosch opened on reclaimed land on Hario Island.
- 2014 and 2020: Miura Wharf opened for large cruise ships in 2014, followed by the Uragashira cruise terminal in 2020.
- To learn more ashore: Sasebo City Museum Shimanose Art Center, at 6-22 Shimanose-machi beside the arcade, keeps the city's history, folk and archaeology collections. Check opening times before you go.
Traveling with Family
The main stops for children are a bus or train ride from Sasebo Station, so pick one bigger outing and add a burger lunch in town.
- Younger children: At Kujukushima Pearl Sea Resort, the Umi Kirara aquarium has a touch tank, a tank where you can feed the fish and a jellyfish dome. The zoo and botanical garden Mori Kirara is nearby, where visitors can feed giraffes, goats and lemurs.
- School age: The boat cruise from Pearl Sea Resort weaves among the islands for about 50 minutes, and the seventh-floor lookout at the Sail Tower looks over the harbor.
- Teenagers: Huis Ten Bosch, a reconstruction of Dutch streets and a Dutch royal palace on 152 hectares, is Japan's largest single theme park by area. It is a big site, so check the timing against all-aboard.
Accessibility
Miura Wharf is a six-minute walk from Sasebo Station, while Uragashira is about 15 minutes by car from the nearest station, so ask your ship about accessible transfers before booking anything.
- The arcade is covered along its whole length, which keeps you out of the rain on the way through town.
- At the Sail Tower, visitors ride the elevator to the top floor and then walk down one floor at a time, so ask staff about the elevator if stairs are hard.
- At Pearl Sea Resort, a boardwalk runs along the shore beside the sightseeing-boat terminal, with restaurants and viewing areas.
Shopping in Sasebo
Sasebo's shopping is concentrated in the covered arcade between the station and Shimanose, with more than 60 shops along it. Near Miura Wharf, the Sasebo Gobangai mall sits on the waterfront.
- Arcade shops: Fashion stores, bookshops, general goods, restaurants and cafés fill the middle stretch, around Honshima-chō and Shimanose-chō.
- Sasebo tops: The traditional spinning tops are sold in the arcade.
- Food gifts: Kujūku senbei, a local cracker, is one of the city's specialties.
- On the base: If you are invited onto the US base, purchases there are in US dollars.
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