I love Japan. I love the collision of the modern and ancient worlds coming together in that place. It’s so high-tech and cool.
John Lasseter
After having visited the peace park in Hiroshima there was a natural “pull” to come and visit Nagasaki. Maybe it’s a fascination into human nature or survival or just plain travel, I knew I had to visit this place while we were in Kyushu. The morning started a little earlier than the day before as we had a slightly longer train trip ahead of us. The class down from the bullet train still goes better than anything we have. Hit a few cambers on the way which was a bit reminiscent of the Virgin Rail trip to Liverpool a few years ago. Once we got there we were asked to do a survey (which we did … smiling Aussie tourists), bought an all-day tram pass and it was off we went.
Our first stop was the peace park which was a tram trip back up the road. The first thing you notice when comparing it to Hiroshima is the size. It is by no means as big and it is missing the iconic dome but there is a very personal feel about the place. As you walk around there are a lot of statues, etc from a range of different countries. Whether or not it was because it was the 2nd of two bombs I’m not sure, but there was a genuine call of peace in each of the sculptures. The Australian piece also made mention of the lives lost due to testing in Australia in the 1950’s (which was I thought was appropriate). Countries (and former countries) such as NZ, Soviet Union, US, GDR, Poland, Netherlands, Italy were all represented in one way or another. The sense of waste hits you as you walk around this place and the hope that it could never happen again is uppermost in your mind.
From the park it was just a bit down the road to the epicentre of the blast (which is also a park). As we entered there was a primary school group there. Education is obviously extremely important in this area as we had seen a secondary school in the peace park earlier. The epicentre monument is very effectively done alongside a remaining column from the destroyed catholic cathedral. They also provided a viewing window of ground level at the time of the blast which highlighted the melted bottles and other debris that accumulated. The museum was next and some of the images are extremely confronting and make you wonder how anyone could have survived. Like any museum dedicated to something like this, it is not about sugar coating the event but providing a truthful presentation (however uncomfortable that is). Man’s inhumanity to man never ceases to amaze me yet the human spirit seems to overcome.
After this it was a hectic few hours. From the Martyrdom of the 26 Saints of Japan through to the former Dutch settlement at Dejima, we covered a bit of territory from one end to the other. Oh and throw lunch in the middle, the last few hours of daylight meant a rush between sites. The one good thing about travelling at this time of year is the lack of tourist crowds (crowds are a little hard to avoid in Japan though) and the weather. The one bad thing is that the sun goes down at 5.10pm so you need to rush a little at times. We made it down to the Catholic Oura Cathedral but time didn’t allow a visit inside (same as the Koshibyo Confucius Shrine around the corner).
If I ever come back to Nagasaki the one place I would love to visit is the deserted island Gunkanjima (‘battleship island). Anyway that’s for another time …
Images Day 4 – Nagasaki
2019 December Japan 