IN 1920 I was promoted to be Consul at Nagasaki, a post I held till 1925. They were five quiet, uneventful years. There was never much work to do and, at times, nothing at all.

Former Importance of Nagasaki

Nagasaki was engaged in foreign trade when Kobe and Yokohama were non-existent. While the country was closed to foreign intercourse, the Dutch were allowed to maintain a ‘factory’ at Nagasaki on Deshima, a tiny little island separated by a channel from Nagasaki itself. Their doings were carefully watched and, for the most part, they were confined to the island. I fancy, however, that in quiet times they were allowed more freedom. To this day, the children in the country around call out ‘Orandajin’ (Dutchman) whenever they see a foreigner.

In 1920 there were still many relics of the Dutch to be found. Screens depicting the ‘black ships’ (the term for foreign ships) were to be found in the curio shops and Dutch decanters and glasses, the value of which was historical rather than artistic.

When Western persistence won the day and Japan was opened to foreign trade, Nagasaki was the first to benefit and a Consul was appointed there in 1858, two years before Kanagawa (Yokohama) and ten years before Hiogo (Kobe). It had one substantial advantage in its land-locked harbours whereas Kanagawa and Hiogo were open road-steads. Shortly afterwards, another asset was discovered in the excellent coal to be mined in two small islands off the entrance to the harbour. It has one fatal defect that has proved its undoing. It is situated near the tip of a hilly peninsula and it is cut off from sources of supply and from buying centres. As the only port of Kyushu, the south-westerly of the four main islands of the Japanese Archipelago, Nagasaki held its own for a time but presently, when communications were developed, Nagasaki found itself on the end of a branch-line, the upstart, Moji at the northern end of the island took what foreign trade was going and Nagasaki went to sleep.

Decline of Nagasaki

This may seem an exaggeration since Mitsubishi has a magnificent ship-building yard there, but somehow the Mitsubishi works never seemed a part of Nagasaki, certainly not of Nagasaki as a trade port.