Being in southern Japan, I assumed it would be much warmer than in Tokyo. It’s basically the distance between Minneapolis and Tennessee. Weather today was on and off rain and around 45f so kind of chilly but there’s no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing. Started the day off by continuing our national Anytime Fitness gym tour. This is probably the nicest one I’ve been to outside of my home gym. All the machines were practically brand new and the view of the mountains was great.
The plan today was to visit the Nagasaki atom bomb museum, peace park, and take the cable car up to do the city view, but first we needed to get some food first. The last 3 days were very traditional Japanese meals and we wanted to pace ourselves with the fishy and pickly flavors because last time we hit a Japanese food wall HARD. I was in search for pasta or something more western. Came across this italian restaurant chain called Pietro with a fantastic view of the harbor. We’re finding more and more restaurants use a touchscreen to order which has English language menus so figuring out meals has been really easy.
I got the trumpet mushroom and scallop pasta for $5.50 and wow it blew me away with how tasty it was. This amount of food back home would have been $25 easy and I don’t need to pay tip here which is even better.
Similar to Hiroshima, we’ve mainly been relying on the cable car system to get around as everything including our hotel is within a block from a station. Each ride costs about $.60 cents which is quite cheap.
As we were walking up the street to the museum there was a statue with a plaque where I stopped to read the description. I was shocked to find out that St. Paul MN is sister cities to Nagasaki! Since Minneapolis and St. Paul are the Twin Cities, does that make Minneapolis an indirect sister too?
I feel strongly for anyone who is fortunate enough to make a trip to Japan should also make time to visit Hiroshim or Nagasaki to learn about the aftermath of the atom bombs being dropped. Reading the accounts of the survivors who suffered made me sick.
The beam was so heavy. The sailors tried to lift it but went away saying, “It’s no use.” Suddenly I saw someone running toward us. It was a woman. She was naked and her body was purple. “Mother!” Now we thought everything would be alright. Our neighbor tried to lift the beam but it did not budge. “It’s impossible,” he said. “There’s just no helping it.” He bowed deeply in apology and went away. The fires were approaching quickly. Mother’s face went pale. She looked down, and my sister peered up with fear-stricken eyes. Mother scanned the beam again, then slid her shoulder under it and heaved upward with all the strength in her body. The beam rose with a crack and my sister’s legs came free. But mother sank exhausted to the ground. She had been out in the field picking eggplants for lunch when the bomb exploded. Her hair was red and frizzled. Her skin was burned and festering all over her body. The skin had ripped right off the shoulder she had applied to the beam. The muscle was visible and blood was streaming out. She soon began to writhe in agony, and she died that night.
Michiko Ogino
(ten years old at the time of the bombing)
The photograph was taken by Joe O’Donnell, then working for the United States Marine Corps.
I saw a boy about ten years old walking by. He was carrying a baby on his back. In those days in Japan, we often saw children playing with their little brothers or sisters on their backs, but this boy was clearly different. I could see that he had come to this place for a serious reason. He was wearing no shoes. His face was hard. The little head was tipped back as if the baby were fast asleep. The boy stood there for five or ten minutes.
The men in white masks walked over to him and quietly began to take off the rope that was holding the baby. That is when I saw that the baby was already dead. The men held the body by the hands and feet and placed it on the fire. The boy stood there straight without moving, watching the flames. He was biting his lower lip so hard that it shone with blood. The flame burned low like the sun going down. The boy turned around and walked silently away.
— Joe O’Donnell
Joanna said this museum had more of a visual emphasis on the physical destruction of the city vs the Hiroshima one which focused more on the personal experiences. Here are a few photos that stood out to me.
The museum also displayed a replica of a catholic church that was at the epicenter of the blast. Here’s the replica and what is left standing today.
No visit to the atom bomb museum is done without a reminder of all the countries that currently have active nuclear weapons…go USA… ಠ_ಠ. Something I noticed that was funny in a morbid way was that there was a display with the number of nuclear bomb tests that have occurred in the world. The US was the only one with a removable sticker *sigh*
As we left the museum to visit the peace memorial park, it started raining. Unfortunately we couldn’t take our time as this was a cold wet rain that chilled your bones. There were several large groups of Chinese tourists who were SO loud and taking lots of happy selfies. Given we were standing on basically a burial ground, it felt unsettling to take a happy photo in such a somber place. Similar to Hiroshima, here’s our “we’re also kinda the baddies” photo.
At the center of Peace Park was a large statue. The right hand pointing to the sky reminds us of the danger of nuclear weapons, while the extended left hand symbolizes eternal peace. The statue’s face also embodies peace, while its closed eyes represent a prayer for the repose of the victims’ souls.
His folded right leg is in meditation while the extended left leg is rooted to the ground, asking us to stand up and help the world. Take note of serene seated Buddha statues in Japan, and you will see where this posture came from.
I know not everyone will have the ability to visit such important historical places which is part of the reason I share my personal travels just to spread knowledge of the experience no matter how real it gets. I think it’s a disservice to those who suffered to forget and toy with repeating history.
It was dinner time and we were in search for opposing flavors. Joanna wanted to try more pasta dishes at Pietro, I was interested in trying Motsunabe, a local dish famous in Fukuoka made of beef intestine. Yah, it’s probably gross but only one way for me to try it.
I read it’s customary to eat this dish with a beer so I ordered a Sapporo and almost chickened out by substituting it for pork belly but I pushed through. The waitress recommended the miso broth which was very rich and was almost like a pork bone broth. I was also craving veggies which this had plenty off: shredded daikon radish, garlic chives, and cabbage. The “offal” as it’s called was like eating chewy pieces of beef fat from a steak. According to Wikipedia: The beef and pork organs in motsunabe are packed with nutrients and rich in flavor and collagen, making it a surprisingly healthy meal.
Since it was dark, the plan was to head to the cable car and catch the view of the city from Mt. Inasa which is rated one of the best city views in all of Japan. We waited about 25 minutes for a bus to pick us up but no bus came. We jumped in a cab and asked the driver if he would take us to the cable car station and in very broken English he said it was closed due to high winds. We’re leaving Nagasaki tomorrow so that’s kind of a bummer but I guess if we end up back here we have something to look forward to.
Nagasaki is known for its castella cake. You may have seen this at the Japanese section of your Asian grocery store. I guess it’s famous because of the Dutch influences due to the city being a trading port with the Netherlands. We weren’t able to find a fresh bakery this late in the evening but we got a small box of it baked earlier in the day from a shop at the department store in the train station.
Best description I can give it is that it was not too sweet with raw sugar crystals on the bottom. I’m sure a fresh out of the oven piece would be even better.
It was a busy day today with good eating and good sight seeing. Unfortunately we only had time to be here for a full day as we are moving onto the more nature-y portion of our trip tomorrow.
