A little "peace" of Nagasaki

When our train arrived at Nagasaki station the only bit of history we knew about the place was that the second atomic bomb was detonated there on 9 August 1945. At the time I was two months short of my second birthday and Kev was a babe in arms at not quite six months old. Now that we are about to leave we know a lot more about this fascinating city.

Arriving at our hotel around midday, since our room would'nt be ready until 3pm, we left the bags there and headed off to discover a little bit of Nagasaki. It was perfect weather for walking, around 22 degrees with a slight breeze and hardly a cloud in the sky. After a short stroll around the dock area not far from the hotel we caught a tram - called streetcars here - to the stop closest to the Peace Park. We chatted to some Japanese school-girls on the tram, meeting them and their teacher later at the Peace statue which gave us the opportunity to have our photos taken together. The place was simply teaming with school-children, just about all that we chatted to were from Tokyo. It's impossible to get away from them, not that we wanted to; in fact we thought it was great that so many kids were learning about the horrors of war. My hope is that it will turn them all into pacifists!! There was much to see at the Peace Park; many of the statues at different areas of the park had been given to Nagaski by various cities world-wide. The huge Peace Statue, sculptored by Seibo Kitanura and unveiled in 1955 dominates the park - it represents a prayer for everlasting world peace. At the opposite end of the park if the Fountain of Peace. Folded paper cranes are also offered as prayers for eternal peace and are all over the place. Close to the Peace Park is the Atomic Bomb Museum where volunteer Peace Guides were talking to different school groups although since it was all in Japanese we really had no idea what they were saying. Amongst the exhibits there are also documentaries running which include interviews with quite a few Australian POW's who were in Nagasaki when the bomb exploded. As you can imagine there are various different memorials within the general vicinity which is called the Zone of Hope - we visited them all. The Nagaski National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims contains the names of the almost 74,000 A-bomb victims and the Rememberance Hall faces the hypocentre of the A-bombing. Then there is the Atomic Bomb Hypocentre Park which has a monolith at the exact spot which was the hypocentre of the explosion. It's impossible not to be extremely moved and saddened by the whole thing. But then again, the fact that so many school-children were there taking copious notes in their beautiful Japanses hand-writing is, for me, a real sign of hope.

Checking into the hotel a few hours later, following a short break we headed off once more on another exploratory walk ending up at Sushi train restaurant where we ate a yummy evening meal. Sleeping in a real bed once more was certainly an improvement on our Kyoto nights snoozes.

With breakfast included in a very reasonable tariff (Comfort Hotel Nagasaki if anyone is interested) the following morning we were out and about fairly early.

First stop, the short walk to Nagasaki Station where we bought a one day tram pass and from there we made our way towards the Mt Inasa Cablecar. Mind you, to arrive at the point of alighting you needed to be a bit if a human cablecar yourself since it involved climbing up many steps. We were the only people on the cablecar and even once up the top there weren't many other people around. However it was a spectacular view over Nagasaki, the small surrounding islands and mountains which surround the city on three sides.

Second stop was the Demija area where for the first time so far in Japan, after producing our passports to prove the point, we were given senior citizens rates (effectively half price) to get into the museum! What a treat the Demija Museum proved to be. The year after the port of Nagaski was opened in 1570 the first Portugese ships arrived and trade between the two countries began - shortly afterwards Portugal began sending Christian missionaries to Japan. In 1654, in order to enforce a Japanese government ban on Christian prosetylizing by Portugese missionaries the artificial island of Dejima was built to house them and prevent them from mixing with the locals. In 1639 the Portugese were banned from Japan altogether so the island of Dejima was uninhabited for a while. That is until the Dutch arrived and the island became the trading post of the Dutch East India Company, playing a fundamental role as the only open window to the west until Japan came out of its period of national isolation in 1857. So you can imagine how interesting the museum was. Over time land reclamation meant that Dejima was no longer an island but plans are under way to restore Dejima as it used to be, a major project which is not expected to be completed for some time to come. It was fascinating and we both thoroughly enjoyed our visit there.

Third stop was Glover Gardens involving more tram travel and yet more walking to get there. As we'd now come to expect, the place was bristling with school students most of whom, it appeared, were in groups without their teachers. Apart from the exuberance of youth, much laughter and frivolity, they were all extremely well behaved. Glover Gardens is in an area of Nagasaki which contains many 19th and early 20th century European sytle of houses - all beautiful wooden structures. There were also a few Christian churches and, as is typical of Nagasaki, many hills. Our legs certainly got a good work-out!! Walking up the steep hill to the entrance to Glover Gardens were touristy shops either sids of the lane, all of the food stores offering samples to taste. So by the time we'd reached the top we'd had our fill of things like pork buns, light and airy cakes, chocolates and some refreshing drinks. Once in Glover Gardens we learnt something of its history. After travelling to Nagaski from Scotland as a twenty one year old Thomas Blake Glover contributed to the modernization of Japan in shipbuilding, coal mining, and many other fields. Glover House was built on a hill in Minami-Yamate in 1863, the oldest Western style house surviving in Japan and Nagasaki's foremost tourist attraction. The surrounding gardens and the house were well worth seeing. We finished off our visit with afternoon tea at the Jiyu-Tei coffee shop, formerly Japan's first Western-style restaurant.

Fourth stop was Hollander walk - the shaded flagstone inclines in the old foreign settlements were called 'Hollander Slopes' beacause at the time all Europeans were referred to as Hollanders by the people of Nagasaki.

Fifth stop - Chinatown. Walking through the area we decided that we'd head back there for our evening meal. After all that, much of which involved up hill and down dale type walking, it was two weary people who finally made it back to the hotel! By this time the sun had already set.

Sixth stop, after a shower and change of clothes, was back up to Mt Inasa to see the night-time view from the top of the lookout. Fairyland was set out before us! Unlike our earlier visit when hardly anyone was up there, we were most defefinatly not alone. Evening is when the area obviously has the majority of its visitors.

Seventh stop, by which time it was 9pm, was back to Chinatown for dinner. But as many Chinese restaurants were beginning to close up shop we ended up at a Japanese bar and restaurant close by. Like many restaurants here it was on the third floor of a building - a hive of activity. Our shoes stashed in lockers at the entrance we headed off to our designated table in a cubicle with a window to the street. Delicious food - Kev almost ended up ordering a bottle of sake since he mistook it for beer! Saved by our waitress who, in her very limited English (better than my Japanese) was finally able to make us understand the difference!

Two weary little travellers - in seventh heaven after our day exploring some of the delights which Nagaski had to offer - finally made it to bed!!

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