Nagasaki

 

Saturday 27^th September. Nagasaki

We wake up this morning, back in Japan. And like many passengers on board, we head for the tram that will take us to the Peace Park, dedicated to the victims of the atomic bombing of the city on August 9^th, 1945. A significant area of the city was destroyed and tens of thousands of residents were killed.

There is a 10 metre tall, blue bronze statue, his right hand points upwards, to the threat of nuclear weapons and his left hand extends horizontally to symbolise eternal peace. On either side of the statue are small shelters holding hundreds of origami cranes, another symbol of peace. We had a lesson in origami crane folding in Tsuruga.So many statues and monuments dedicated to Nagasaki from countries all around the world, it's such a shame to think that the message of peace has been forgotten.

The park covers a vast area so we didn’t get to see it all and although there were lots of people there, it didn’t feel crowded. A bright moment in the midst of all the contemplation was the blue cart selling the famous chirin chirin ice cream. The vendors are very talented and they create an ice cream that resembles a rose. Almost too pretty to eat.

The heat is still oppressive, even though today we get a light sprinkle of rain. Or is it 100% humidity?? I really enjoyed the coolness of being rained on, but in true Asian style, rain ponchos and umbrellas appeared from nowhere. Due to the heat, I think the smart thing to do is cut out a few items from the itinerary, but I really want to see the Fukusaiji Buddhist temple, where the tall and serene Cannon statue stands on the back of a turtle, overlooking Nagasaki and is regarded as a national treasure. We take the tram to Nagasaki train station and then walk. You can be sure when something is built to overlook a place, there’s going to be stairs to climb. Many of them! Taking it slowly and being put to shame by elderly residents who use these stairs every day, we climb, only to be greeted by another long run of stairs. Oh no! There’s gotta be a better way! I check the map and if we walk on a little further, there’s a road that goes all the way up, so a steepish slope but at least it’s not stairs! It was definitely worth the hike to get up there. The statue stands 34 metres high and is an impressive sight. It was so quiet up there, only us and 2 men who had driven up. I guess the hill puts many visitors off.

At Nagasaki station, I got a stamp in my book, and we saw some sort of celebration for the large shopping mall attached. One of the stalls was advertising a VR visit to Gunkanjima, an island of abandoned buildings off the coast of Nagasaki whose real name is Hashima. There used to be an undersea coal mine there but when the mine was closed everyone moved out and the island was left untouched for over 30 years. It’s now been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site and has become popular as a tourist destination. Unfortunately, the mascot we saw looked like a poo emoji with a small fort on his head. But he had a permanent smile on his face and was happy to pose for photos.

There’s a great deal of things to see and do in Nagasaki, impossible to do it all, or even more than a couple of things. One thing that we had to skip was the Suwa Shrine, where there is a spectacular pathway of red Torii gates, but again, many, many stairs. I also wanted to see the Megane Bridge, also known as the Spectacles bridge because the reflection on the river looks like a pair of spectacles. It’s a very old stone bridge, the oldest in Japan. Also a potential location for the blue ice cream cart, But I've had one now, so 'you can't do it all'.

Lunch calls, so we head over to Chinatown, one of only 3 in Japan. We visited the biggest one in Yokohama. We find a restaurant that is full of locals, they’re usually the best ones to go to. A well known dish in Nagasaki is Champon noodles, so of course, I have to try that. It was nice but doesn’t compare to the black ramen I had in Takaoka. We finally figure out the restaurant is called Syunkasyuto. The chopstick package reads ‘Chinese Saikan Spring/Summer/Autumn/Winter’ and the boss lady gestures that that is the restaurant name.

Expecting another jam packed tram, we head back to the stop that will get us back to the ship.