Nagasaki Private Tours & Local Tour Guides

“Loved our day in Nagasaki with Sho! ”

We did a cruise around Japan and preferred to find local guides for each port instead of big group tours. I'm so happy we found Sho and booked his tour in Nagasaki. He was such an excellent host and ambassador for the city. We saw a great mix of important historical sites and also a glimpse into everyday life in the city. Sho even took us around his own neighbourhood and a favourite place for lunch. It was honestly like meeting up with a good friend for the day! Sho, if you ever visit Canada, send us an email - we'd love to be your "guides" and I promise there will be a big meal of fresh lobster from our area!

“A Truly Excellent Nagasaki City Tour Guide”

What a wonderful full-day tour of Nagasaki! Shonosuke created a custom tour for us that highlighted Nagasaki's historic role as Japan's chief entrepot with the rest of the world. During our tours of Dejima and the other early foreign trading settlements of Nagasaki, Shonosuke explained how Nagasaki made early contact with Western and Chinese traders in the 16th century who introduced Western products and ideas into Japan and Japanese products and ideas to the rest of the world thus creating a uniquely Japanese cosmopolitan society. We later toured the more modern Western settlements in and around the restored buildings of the Glover Garden estates. There we and learned how in the early 1860s, Western settlers' technology and capital combined with Japanese capital and innovation to spark a political and cultural revolution that restored the Japanese emperor's political power and began Japan's rapid industrial development leading to the modern Japan we know today. Throughout our tour Shonosuke (or "Sho" as we came to know him) displayed an outstanding knowledge of Nagasaki's history as well as its current local city sights and developments. His kindness, courteouness, and flexibility made our time with him truly delightful, and his excitement about the many unique aspects of Nagasaki continually sparked our interest. Shonosuke also has a unique ability of escorting you throughout the city effortlessly and comfortably while always getting you to each sight of interest at exactly the right time. We never felt rushed and always had time to talk with him about all the events related to the sights we viewed. If you want a stimulating, interesting, and comfotable introduction to Nagasaki, Sho is the guide for you!

Shonosuke S.

(22 reviews)

Hi Mack and Shelley! Thank you so much for taking the time to write such a wonderful review—and for visiting Nagasaki, a city I truly love. I couldn’t be more grateful. What I love most about Nagasaki’s history is its legacy of international exchange and multicultural coexistence, so I was really happy that you were interested in—and enjoyed—that part of the story. I had such a great time myself, and I hope it became a special memory from your time in Japan! Also, thank you so much for the lovely gifts from Louisiana! (The postcard is absolutely adorable!) I really loved them, and now I feel a special connection to Louisiana :) I imagine you might be somewhere around Kagoshima now—wishing you a continued amazing journey around Japan! See you again!

“Nagasaki - worth a visit, especially the atomic bomb museum”

Two things stand out in Armando’s skills as a guide: First, he knows the city well and is ready to adapt to and prepare himself for the wishes of his clients. So, secondly, he dors not offer a standard tour, but tries to satisfy the individual wishes of his clients. In our case, he took us around with his car, including to the hill where he lives,,and from where we could take a beautiful piicture of not only Nagasaki, but also our giant cruise ship that had brought us there. Thanks again Armando for a very special time together. Fred, Sandra and grandson Leo from Switzerland.

Armando V.

(13 reviews)

Hi Fred, Sandra and Leo! Thank you for still thinking about your visit to Nagasaki even after 3 weeks. You are great people and I'm looking forward to meeting you again one day. Wishing you all the best! Armando