Daily life
在留カード / Zairyū card
zai-ryoo KAA-do
Your residence card, issued at the airport for medium and long-term stays. Carry it at all times — it is a legal requirement.
住民登録 / Jūmin tōroku
joo-min TOH-roku
Address registration, due within fourteen days of moving in. Nagasaki has no wards, so this happens at the city hall or one of the local centres, not at a ward office.
マイナンバー / My Number
mai-NAN-baa
Your tax and social-security number, issued after address registration. The physical card now doubles as your health insurance card.
住民税 / Jūminzei
joo-min-ZAY
Residence tax, calculated on last year's income and billed from the following June. Cheap in year one, expensive in year two, and it can follow you out of Japan.
斜面地 / Shamenchi
sha-men-CHI
'Slope land'. In Nagasaki this is a planning term with real consequences — a great deal of housing sits on gradients reached only by stairways, with no vehicle access at all.
空き家 / Akiya
a-ki-YA
A vacant house. Nagasaki has a lot of them, mostly on the slopes, and the city runs several subsidy schemes to get them cleared out, renovated and lived in again.
Food
ちゃんぽん / Champon
CHAM-pon
Noodles in a thick pork-and-seafood broth, invented here in a Chinese restaurant for students. The dry version fried with a crisp noodle nest is sara-udon.
カステラ / Castella
ka-SU-te-ra
A dense honey sponge brought by Portuguese traders in the sixteenth century and made here ever since. Bought by the boxed loaf, and the old houses take it very seriously.
Culture
おくんち / Okunchi
o-KUN-chi
The city's autumn festival, 7–9 October, with dragon dances and hauled floats performed by rotating neighbourhood groups. The biggest thing in the local calendar after August.
11時02分 / Jūichi-ji ni-fun
joo-i-chi-ji NI-fun
11:02, the time of the bombing on 9 August 1945. The city observes a minute's silence at that moment each year and the phrase needs no further explanation here.
Social
〜ばい / 〜と?
BAI / TO
The local dialect's markers — 'ばい' for emphasis and 'と?' to make a question. Close to Hakata's Kyushu speech and softer than it sounds written down.
Emergency
110 / 119
—
110 for police, 119 for fire and ambulance. 118 for the Coast Guard, which in a working harbour city is a number worth knowing.
Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.