The Sasebo area consists of four municipalities: Sasebo, Hasami, Kawatana, and Saza. For more information on events, tourism, and city specific rules and practices, such as disaster prevention and evacuation, please visit the following local websites:
Sasebo City
Welcome to Sasebo! The second largest city in Nagasaki Prefecture. It’s a small city surrounded by mountains and the sea. But don’t let the word small fool you, there is plenty to see and do here.
The biggest highlight has to be the 99 Islands (Kujukushima) which can be seen in the 2003 film ‘The Last Samurai’ starring Tom Cruise. Here you can set out on numerous adventures on boats, kayaks and the like to explore this beautiful area.
Sasebo is also home to Huis Ten Bosch, a large theme park with Dutch styled buildings, huge flower gardens, fireworks events, wine drinking events and much more.
There are also many events throughout the year including the Sasebo Jam Festival and Yosakoi Dance Festival. These events attract many people to Sasebo and draw large crowds.
And if you are craving a big city experience, Fukuoka and Nagsaki are accessible within 2 hours (approximately) via bus and train. Or if you are feeling adventurous, you could take a ferry to the nearby islands like Uku and Ojika. We trust that you’ll enjoy your time here.
Saza
Saza is the local transit hub, whether you come by Saihi Bus, the Matsuura Railway (MR), or get on the highway to/from Sasebo and beyond. Take in the beauty of the Saza river (don’t miss the shirouo and shirauo fishing in February) and Sarayama Park, which has a beautiful field of ayame (iris) flowers in May/June. There are lots of shops here where you can get many of your daily necessities and make your home in Saza.
Hasami
Hasami is an idyllic town situated near the border with Saga, famous for its historical pottery industry. The town holds numerous events, like a gastronomy walking tour, a porcelain festival and workshops throughout the year. It is the perfect place to let your creativity flow and enjoy the Nagasaki countryside!
Hasami has many local shops and offers a variety of workshops throughout the year, including wheel-throwing pottery, pottery painting, fake food model-making, making pizza in a kiln, miso-making, mushroom picking, tea picking and sampling, and porcelain bead jewelry-making. These workshops can all be booked through https://tou-nou-hasami.com/, a website run by the town of Hasami. You can use your browser to translate the website. While the workshops are run in Japanese, you can still participate with limited Japanese and a willingness to learn! Most workshops must be booked in advance, but there are a few places in the town that have started offering walk-in pottery classes. Be sure to follow the Hasami Town Instagram Page to stay up to date with all the events happening in Hasami!
Hasami also organizes the annual Hasami Onsen and Gastronomy Walking Tour in spring. It’s a great time to try the local foods and beautiful cherry blossoms (and walk off all the delicious food you’ll be eating!). The Hasami Onsen and Gastronomy Walking Tour takes place at the end of March but tickets go on sale near the end of January. The tickets tend to sell out quickly so be sure to buy them once they go on sale!
Kawatana
Kawatana section TBA!
In the meantime, here is their official website.