Our tour guide Shannon was amazing. Being that he also spoke English and Japanese it made the tour that much better. He could help us communicate with locals to ask questions and give us accurate translations. Shannon took us to many amazing places including the epicenter of the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb (very humbling to see). Shannon took us to a Sake Brewery where we were given an impromptu tour of the facility by workers where they explained how they make their sake, shouju, gin, and the brewery was just starting to make whiskey (we have to come back in 3 years to taste the first batch). We also tasted many many many of the sakes, shouju, and gin that the brewery makes. Shannon took us to a market to pick up fresh food and drink so we could have a picnic. We were able to explore Old Sasebo Wireless Transmission Facility and Kawatana Historical Heritage Site Torpedo Launch Test Site Ruins. We went explored a shrine, checked out a robot hotel, went to Ceramics Park Hasami where they have an entire history of kilns to check out, and we went high up on the peak to look out over our ship.
We highly recommended Shannon as a tour guide. When we return, we will definitely hire him again! So much information and so many sites to see. Loved every minute of it!