This guide covers the harbor walk, the Dutch Trading Post, the Matsura Historical Museum and Hirado Castle, with the routes, times and prices you need.
In Hirado you can follow a stone-paved lane beside a white plaster wall toward temple roofs and a church spire, stand before the white-walled warehouse of the Dutch Trading Post, look up at the keep among trees, and see a turret beside the sea. All of it sits in the same harbor town.
The notes below follow the harbor, the trading post, the museum and the castle in walking order, then explain how to get there. Times and prices are collected in the tables, so you can compare them at a glance and decide how much of the town to fit into one day.
A Harbor Town You Can Walk
The walk through the old town can begin at Hirado Koryu Hiroba. Saiwai Bridge, also called Dutch Bridge, is a three-minute walk from Hirado Koryu Hiroba. The Dutch Wall is also about a three-minute walk from the plaza.
The viewpoint of temples and a church is about a ten-minute walk from Hirado Koryu Hiroba. Hirado Xavier Memorial Church is also a ten-minute walk from the plaza. These short walks can be strung together before the longer visits to the trading post, the museum and the castle.
The Dutch Trading Post and the Matsura Historical Museum
The Hirado Dutch Trading Post is open from half past eight in the morning to half past five in the afternoon, with last entry at five. Individual admission to the Hirado Dutch Trading Post is three hundred and ten yen for general visitors. It is a six-minute walk from the parking lot to the site of the Dutch Trading Post.
The Matsura Historical Museum is open daily from half past eight in the morning to half past five in the afternoon. It is closed only over the year-end and New Year period, from the twenty-ninth of December to the first of January.
Adult admission to the Matsura Historical Museum is six hundred and sixty yen. A joint ticket with the trading post costs eight hundred and eighty yen for an individual adult. If both are on your list for the same day, set the two separate prices beside the combined one.
Hirado Castle on the Hill
Hirado Castle is open from half past eight in the morning to six in the evening from April to September. From October to March it is open from half past eight in the morning to five in the afternoon. Hirado Castle is closed on the thirtieth and thirty-first of December.
Individual admission to Hirado Castle is five hundred and twenty yen for adults. The castle, the museum and the trading post all appear in the last table, so you can set the order of your visits by their opening and closing times.
Where to stay
Places to stay near Hirado, Nagasaki, Japan →
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. If you book through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
Getting There
The Matsuura Railway journey from Sasebo Station to Tabira-Hiradoguchi Station takes one hour and twenty minutes. The route bus from Sasebo Bus Center to the Hirado Pier bus center also takes one hour and twenty minutes. A round-trip discount ticket on the Matsuura Railway between Sasebo and Tabira-Hiradoguchi costs one thousand nine hundred yen for an adult.
Drivers can park at the Hirado Koryu Hiroba parking lot, which is free for two hours after entry and then costs one hundred yen per thirty minutes. Electric-assist rental bicycles of the normal type start from one thousand yen for two hours. The table below puts these figures and the walking times from the plaza side by side.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Sasebo Station to Tabira-Hiradoguchi Station on the Matsuura Railway | 1 hour 20 minutes |
| Sasebo Bus Center to the Hirado Pier bus center by route bus | 1 hour 20 minutes |
| Hirado Bridge to the Hirado Pier terminal by car | about 6 minutes |
| Matsuura Railway round-trip discount ticket between Sasebo and Tabira-Hiradoguchi, adult | 1,900 yen |
| Round-trip combination ticket for Sasebo and Hirado | 3,000 yen per ticket, tax included |
| Hirado Koryu Hiroba parking lot | free for 2 hours after entry, then 100 yen per 30 minutes |
| Hirado Koryu Hiroba parking lot hours | 24 hours |
| Hirado Koryu Hiroba on foot to Saiwai Bridge | 3 minutes |
| Hirado Koryu Hiroba on foot to the Dutch Wall | about 3 minutes |
| Hirado Koryu Hiroba on foot to the viewpoint of temples and a church | about 10 minutes |
| Hirado Koryu Hiroba on foot to Hirado Xavier Memorial Church | 10 minutes |
| Parking lot on foot to the site of the Dutch Trading Post | 6 minutes |
| Electric-assist rental bicycle, normal type | from 1,000 yen for 2 hours |
New to rural buses and one-man trains? See how to ride them, step by step.
Hours and Fees
The table below lists the visiting times, closed days and adult prices for the three main sights, so you can plan the order of your day.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Hirado Dutch Trading Post hours | 8:30 to 17:30, last entry at 17:00 |
| Hirado Dutch Trading Post individual admission for general visitors | 310 yen |
| Matsura Historical Museum hours | 8:30 to 17:30, daily |
| Matsura Historical Museum closed days | December 29 to January 1 |
| Matsura Historical Museum individual admission for adults | 660 yen |
| Joint ticket with the Hirado Dutch Trading Post and the Matsura Historical Museum, individual adult | 880 yen |
| Hirado Castle hours from April 1 to September 30 | 8:30 to 18:00 |
| Hirado Castle hours from October 1 to March 31 | 8:30 to 17:00 |
| Hirado Castle closed days | December 30 and 31 |
| Hirado Castle individual admission for adults | 520 yen |
If you would like to stay a night and see the harbor at a slower pace, look at places to stay in Hirado.