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Published: April 27th 2024
In the annals of history, there are many moments which stand out, some for positive reasons, some for what can only be considered negative reasons. In Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the reasons are absolutely mixed. Two events, separated by a mere three days in August of 1945
changed the world forever as the world was thrust into the age of nuclear warfare, a point from which there is no return. Our visits to Hiroshima and Nagasaki provided us with yet another reminder of how fierce war can really be, and in this case how a moment in time can change the landscape forever, both locally and worldly.
Dave has more than a passing interest in World War II history, so our trip to Japan had to include stops in two of the most memorable cities of the war with Japan. Seeing Japan in the 21
st century, it is hard to imagine that over 70 years ago, it was quite different, with the Emperor being in charge and having total authority over the populace. Japan’s sphere of influence was huge, ranging from Korea to Southeast Asia. Now it is a peaceful nation, and visiting it allows one to see great beauty in
its people and its natural wonders. It is quite hard to imagine it as the conquering nation it once was.
Any visit to Japan for an American should include stops at one or both of these cities to better understand the history of the end of the last world war. Dave’s father was a soldier in the European theater and after the German surrender, the remaining troops waited to see if they would be sent to the Pacific theater. The atom bomb made sure that did not happen. In August of 1945, a decision had to be made whether to have a maritime invasion of mainland Japan.....or drop a nuclear bomb. It was clear to the Allies that Japanese soldiers would not surrender and fight to the last man. While many soldiers lives were spared with this action, the casualties inflicted on the Japanese populace was staggering.Estimates of the total number of people killed from these two bombs ranges from 129,00 to 226,00. But the number of people who died later and those who were scarred for life makes that number swell. We saw and heard of those who suffered, and it was quite sobering.
But both cities
have recovered from the bombings and are beautiful examples of reconstruction along with preserving the history from which they cannot escape. The respective museums were very informative and provided a great perspective of what occurred. At each, you are left with a sense of what occurred, along with a message of peace for the world, so it will never again be repeated. Both the Atomic Bomb Museum in Nagasaki along with the Atomic Bomb Dome and Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum are on nicely landscaped grounds, which leaves one with hope for the future after the horrific happenings some 70 years past.
But there was so much more to both these cities and we had the pleasure of discovering them and meeting up with a fellow TravelBlogger while we were in Hiroshima that we’d know for years, but never met! It was an absolute pleasure to meet her. Those of you who have met fellow TBers know what we mean. There is an instant click and then time slips away as the conversations flow so easily. Jo guided us to a okonomiyaki-style restaurant, where we had the most fabulous meal. This type of restaurant makes a dish that is a
Photo from the Museum
Damage from Atomic Bombthin layer of batter and a generous amount of cabbage on top of yakisoba noodles. Popular toppings include oysters, squid and cheese. We opted for the scallops and shrimp. One of the best meals of many that we had in Japan. Enjoying this mea and watching them make it is an experience.
While wandering the streets of Nagasaki near our mom and pop hotel we found a cute Japanese restaurant called the Bon Voyage. We got into a very enjoyable protracted conversation with our waitress Maria about her home country of the Philippines. We spent a month in the Philippines, and she was delighted to talk with us about where we went, what we saw and our love of her country. By the end of our meal, which was very good, we felt like old friends. We asked Maria if there was a good sushi restaurant nearby where we might have dinner the next night. She laughed and said yes but the owner does not like tourists. Wow, this sounds like a place we would love. Maria decided to help us out and walked down to talk with the owner of the sushi house while we were dining. She
Eel Sushi
Nagasaki..... magnificent. came back with good news. Maria said if we would pay cash and point to what we wanted the owner would allow us to dine with him the next night. To provide even better service, Maria walked us down the street when we had finished eating and introduced us to the owner. With international sign language and with Maria's help we told him we looked forward to our meal with him. This is a small, cute, hole in the wall sushi restaurant.
The following evening, we arrived at our appointed time and were greeted with a smile. We took two of the six seats at the sushi bar. There was a middle-aged Japanese couple sitting at the other end and looked at us with interest. Shortly after that a young Japanese couple came in and sat at one of the two tables. After a short while the couple at the sushi bar with us attempted in broken English and Japanese to find out how we heard of this restaurant and so we told them the story we've just shared with you. The young couple laughed at us as we answered what we thought they were asking instead of what
Japanese Countryside
On our way to Nagasaki they asked. At that point the young Japanese couple provided some translation for us. It was a nice conversation. They seemed pleased we were eating in a true local restaurant. We spoke to the young couple a bit and they suggested a couple of things we might order but the owner preferred we point to what we like rather than listening to the other couple. We pointed to eel, bluefin tuna, and shrimp to begin. OMG is all we can say. The flavors danced on our taste buds. We were in heaven and had never had fish so fresh in our life. One other new experience for us was watching him take the conch out of the fish tank and prepare it for us to eat. We still dream of and talk about this meal. Phenomenal. Sadly, we may never have sushi this good ever again…..
A good friend of ours who has been to Japan multiple times recommended we join a couple of Japan facebook pages where we could gain vital information about traveling in Japan. These turned out to be a wealth of information as others had the same questions and concerns we did.
Often as
Spring Blossoms
We didn't have many but they were beginning. we would read the information we would chuckle as people would talk about the great food you could get at the 7-11 convenience stores. We knew we had to take a look to see what all the hubbub was about. Indeed it is a place where you can get higher quality foods than you could get in the U.S. It is great for budget minded travelers. They have a large variety of pretty good looking ready made sandwiches, sushi, bento boxes, fried chicken, meat on skewers and the like. They also have a decent variety of fresh fruit. They also have a delightful treat called jagariko which is a package of potatoe sticks.... and they are unbelievably good and addictive. We would buy them before we got on our train rides. When we first checked out the 7-11 we thought it was nice but assumed we would not eat there. Boy were we wrong!
When you are in Japan, one must pay attention to the time as most restaurants close at 230pm. We often ate breakfast late so we didn't start to get hungry until around 2pm or later when we began to look for something for lunch. Our
Japanese BBQ
Wagyu Beef and vegetables timing was off and we generally got to a restaurant just as they stopped seating. This happened on the day we went to the Peace Park in Nagasaki. Our hotel had told us about a chinese restaurant near the park where we could have a nice lunch. It had closed so we ended up grabbing a couple of really tasty sandwiches at the 7-11 and some of the additive potato sticks and had a picnic at the top of the park near the memorials. In Japan and Korea, there are 7-11 stores all over the place. It became our practice to grab lunch in one and have a picnic and always while we were riding the trains. We quickly learned which 7-11 foods were our favorites. Later in our trip when we grew tired of eating out we enjoyed take out in our hotel rooms with the 7-11 and Lawson's. Yes, they have Lawson's in Japan. We thought they had all gone out of business. Thank goodness that is not the case.
Another pleasurable experience was taking the tram to Inasa-yama Park, which provides spectacular views of Nagasaki and the surrounding area. A trip up there at sunset on
a clear day was quite enjoyable and provided some stunning views. Who doesn't like a nice view?
Our visits to Nagasaki and Hiroshima were pleasant surprises for us. When visiting other locations in Japan we felt like we knew what we were going to see and yes certainly we knew about the museums and monuments we would see and appreciate but both of these towns provided surprises for us. Nagasaki was far bigger and spread out than we were expecting. The beauty of both of these cities was unexpected as they have amazing parks and walkways along the river. They are modern cities but also have quaint sections of town embracing their history. We really enjoyed our visits.
One last story about our time in Hiroshima. After our Japanese BBQ steak meal we headed to a local whiskey bar down the street from where we had eaten for Dave to sample a Japanese whiskey. It was rather touristy and we thought we could do better. Dave did research and the following evening we went to Bar Kirkwall. The ambiance is enhanced as the location is difficult to find and the low lighting and dark woods seemed the perfect
Jo, Merry Jo and Dave
Travel Blog friends since 2010. setting to experiment. We were the only people when we first arrived so we had the full attention of our bartender. He made several recommendations, bottles were studied and choices were made. Dave sampled two and was very happy with them. We then learned they had a chocolate sample tray -- it turned out to be a taste treat. The best thing about it was watching the bartender performance of preparing the chocolates for serving. They were served on a slate plate and he shaved and sliced the chocolates into perfect square and sprinkled accompaniments on top. He then explained what we would taste. Eating is an experience in Japan.
Our few days in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, was well worth the visit. But of course, there are other tales to tell of other adventures in this most beautiful nation.......
Where we stayed: Nagasaki Orion Hotel
Hiroshima Intelligent Hotel Annex
If you missed our other blogs from Japan: Sub-Tropical Japan: Okinawa Island Sublime Snow Monkeys! Tantalizing Tokyo Small towns, Major shrines, The Art of Bathing and Trains....
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carol knop
non-member comment
Your time in Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Loved the detail on the food and friendly people. It caught my eye that Dave’s father was a soldier in the European theater and after the German surrender, the remaining troops waited to see if they would be sent to the Pacific theater. This was exactly Paul's dad's situation. Though I think he actually may have received orders already. Then the bomb was dropped on the two cities, and instead he was redirected and ended up in Austria and other places. He is 97 and lives with us.