Typhoon? Nothing stops me, I had an indestructible jacket.
Nagasaki doesn’t feel very Japan really. Walk around the streets 1 block from the harbour and there were Dutch, Chinese and British colonial building (even an HSBC!). Well it is reasonable given that it is the first window to the world for Japan. Even the road sign isn’t the Japanese style that I’d expect (aka Kyoto style).
Food coma is an issue when I walk towards the Ouma Catholic Church (this is 15min by foot from the harbour). That street is flooded with food stores. All smell yummy and 80% has FREE tasting. Dieters beware!! This street is not safe for you. This walk was meant to be completed in maximum 10min (if you don’t stop at all, that does not happen btw).
People did worship and pray inside Oura church. Entrance fee: JPY600
As you can imagine… I stop at almost every store and fell into a deep food coma.
Time to leave the food behind… took the tram to get to the WW2 museums. Nagasaki was the 2nd city that received an atomic bomb in WW2. So preaching peace & anti-war spirits runs high. Visit the Atomic Bomb museum and you will know why.
This tear causing museum is THE must see. They have videos of survivors giving testimonies and prepare to ball your eyes out. See the reality of war in the eyes of the survivors.
My favourite piece was this; a show stopping piece, the clock that stopped at 11:02 when the bomb was dropped. 4000 celcius degrees wiped out the town in a flash. Hell on earth in a flash. Shadows were casted onto the stones, permanently marking them. The museum does a good job on the model display to illustrate what it was like and also has lots of authentic pieces collected from around Nagasaki at the time. Atomic bomb is just pure evil… Anyways, I LOVED this museum. Like I said, it is a must see!
Nearby, approximately 10min walk is the Peace Memorial Park. Okay, I don’t know why they used a huge muscular blue guy to represent peace. Personally, I think it is a styling choice that has gone very wrong. Look at him?!? Does he scream peace? His posture is soooo awkward and he looks awkward.
The fountain is supposed to resemble wings. Reason for the fountain is due to soon after the bomb hits, many people died asking for water. So the local government decided to have ‘eternally’ running water to comfort the souls of the dead. Again, I think this elegant move is slain by the blue man sitting behind the wings,trashing the view.
When I arrived, the place is swarmed with school kids from multiple schools. I guess the Japanese really pumps this peace idea to their kids. They are sooo cute.
Also nearby is the Urami Church (within 20min walk? I took 300+ photos and I lost track of time lol). Why is it special? Well, it was one of the grandest cathedral in all of Asia. Note, this is past tense. The Urami church is bombed into oblivion, so obviously the current Urami is only a post WW2 building. The path towards the church displays some original pieces from before the war. NB: this church’s door closes after 17h00!!! (I don’t know what happened to ‘knock on the door shall be open unto you….’ they don’t look like they will open even if you knock….) O, cool thing is that their church door is a sliding door instead of the classic doors of the EU variety.
Nagasaki, famed for their nightview, but hey, with hellish rain remember? No ways to enjoy the fab nightview. So I ditched that for a nice Japanese meal. Make the best of every trip no matter the weather conditions, right? Hm… slight surprise issue, the specialty was whale (raw & cooked)?!?! Anyways, if you eat it without knowing, it is pretty good stuff – texture of marble beef with a bit more ‘wax’ and no meat smell? Melts in the mouth. Worth the extra bucks.
Planning to visit Nagasaki? For more information: http://www.city.nagasaki.lg.jp/ Otherwise, their local pamphlets are just as good 😉 Best is of course to hang around and wait for my next post (wink wink). Thanks for reading!!! xox
I did not do all of the above in ONE day. Though, I know many people who did even more. I am a very slow tourist. I only do max 2 spots per day. Travel like a snail sounds about right.
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4 Comments
LOL I was in food coma, too. I visited Nagasaki last month. It is spectacular place. I love Japan and its culture. But I love their food more! Best regards!
Me too! I love their food. Japan is a serious weight gain trip haha. Thanks for reading, Frances 😀
Great photography. Nagasaki is perhaps Japan’s most underrated city and I think also the most beautiful because of the setting. In Australia we have a city in Tasmania, Hobart that reminds me of Nagasaki. The atmosphere in the Atomic Bomb memorial was very different than Hiroshima, much colder even a degree of latent hostility towards Europeans when I visited in 1990.
Thanks 🙂 ja, I also think they are underrated. I prefer the Nagasaki atomic museum to the Hiroshima one. It feels more serious and less touristy compared to the Hiroshima one (personal opinion).
I heard all these fabulous wild life stories about Tasmania, will have to make that trip some day.