Historic Hirado

We took our bikes out for a ride around town yesterday plus a bit of walking them up hills and carrying them up and down steps!!  All pretty easy though.  It is a very scenic place with a lot of history - the Portuguese, then the Dutch and then the English used Hirado as a trading port during the period of Japanese national isolation and then there is the Christian influence of  Francis Xavier who first arrived in 1550 as a missionary.  Christianity is still practised here today and there are many churches, sacred sites and monuments around the island.


St Francis Xavier Memoral Church

 
In the grounds of Hirado Castle the cherry trees were in full blossom, seen here near the gate house.

If you've ever wondered how to recycle those PET bottles, here's an idea....

Kelp (kombu) drying at the fishing harbour.

The impressive Dutch Trading House sits at the entrance to Hirado Harbour.  It has been completely rebuilt and will be opened in autumn 2011.  It was originally built in 1612 and then demolished when the Dutch shifted their operations to Dejima in Nagasaki in 1641.  Along the waterfront is the old Dutch wharf.