Watanabe Minpaku

A homely place to stay in Nagasaki, with beautiful souls and a relaxed, informal feel.

It feels like visiting a relative’s home in the countryside, since the place really looks and feels like a house. It’s a former boarding house that’s now a guesthouse, right at the top of a hill with a wonderful night view. As of December 2020, pets were allowed, Wi-Fi and a bidet toilet were available, and breakfast cost extra. The initial registration information was wrong, and the details listing it in Dejima-cho were mistaken. If you’re driving, be careful in the narrow alleys.

I wasn’t welcomed, and the information I was given was wrong. Booking.com’s details weren’t enough to find the accommodation. The phone number listed belonged to the guest, who didn’t speak English, so I couldn’t get directions. The view from above Nagasaki wasn’t all that nice, and getting there was very difficult. There’s a lot of walking, including a steep hill to reach the city center. They’ll almost certainly ask for your passport and other details before check-in, apparently to secure themselves before you can settle in. In my case, there was no refund. The rooms and furniture are ugly, and so is the neighborhood, which is basically the city cemetery.

They were incredibly kind and came to get me when I got lost. The uphill walk from Shiraito is pretty strenuous, so I’d suggest taking the route via Kami-Kojima instead.