Nagasaki Dejima

出島

Located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Dejima was an artificial island created exclusively to receive and host European traders in 17th-Century Edo Period Japan in accordance with the shogunate's strict foreign policies. Dejima played a vital role in Japan's connection to Europe at the time and Japanese history. Though not an island anymore, there have been significant efforts to preserve the area's historic architecture. Those efforts have resulted in the restoration and reconstruction project of the former trading island. Today serving as an open-air museum, visitors to Dejima can slip back in time and witness how foreign trade occurred during Japan's so-called "secluded era," and how the life there contributed to contemporary Japan's development.