Nagasaki

March 5, 2009
Nagasaki, Japan

After spending nearly six months aboard Queen Victoria, I finally reached Southeast Asia on March 5 when the ship docked in Nagasaki, Japan. I decided against waking up early to watch the ship’s sail-in (these can be very beautiful at times, and Sydney’s sail-in and sail-away were the best yet), so when I stepped off the gangway at 8:30am, it was amazing to finally set foot in Japan for the first time in my life. I had been looking forward to this port for quite a while, and had no doubt in my mind that I would not be disappointed.

I decided against doing a tour here and instead chose to spend the day with a friend since we were both looking to see and do the same things. Immediately after getting off the ship, we purchased all-day tram passes so that we could get around to the various places and then headed to the closest tram station. Riding on the Nagasaki tram exposed me first-hand to Japanese culture, as I was surrounded by locals who did not speak a word of English. Most of the people on the tram, including the driver, wore surgical masks to help prevent them from being exposed to the massive amounts of pollution. The tram was also covered with advertisements promoting everything from skin care to baseball. It was a fun way to get around the city though.

Our first stop of the day was the Peace Park, established in 1955 to commemorate the atomic bombing of Nagasaki. It is located near the bomb hypocenter and is filled with statues donated from different countries including the United States, Brazil, Italy, New Zealand, and Argentina (among others).

The two main attractions at the Peace Park were the Peace Statue and the Fountain of Peace. At over 30 feet tall, the statue was located at the northern end of the park and towered over everything. The statue depicted a man with one leg folded and the other stretched below which was intended to symbolize both meditation and the need to stand up and rescue the people of the world. The man also had one hand stretched out to his left to symbolize eternal peace and the other pointing to the sky and to the threat of nuclear weapons. The Fountain of Peace was located at the southern end of the park opposite the Peace Statue and was intended to represent the water for the bomb victims who died in a desperate search for fluids and also represented two wings of an angel. As we walked up the stairs and entered the peace park, we were greeted by the fountain and between its two wings we saw the Peace Statue in the distance. It was a spectacular sight and it was from here that we began our walk through the park almost entirely silent. In fact, I spent a lot of the morning taking everything in and not speaking much at all.

After spending quite some time walking around the Peace Park, we made our way to the bomb hypocenter, the location over which the bomb exploded (the bomb actually exploded 500 meters above the ground). The hypocenter was marked by a large piece of marble, probably fifteen or twenty feet tall, surrounded by pieces of pavement encircling the marble slab and getting higher as they moved outwards, probably for about thirty feet or so before reaching the pavement of the open square at the hypocenter. I spent a few moments in silence at the hypocenter before heading towards the Atomic Bomb Museum, located just a short walk from the hypocenter.

The Atomic Bomb museum was the first museum of its kind that I had ever visited, in that I had never encountered a full museum dedicated to a tragic event. I was disappointed inside when I learned I would not be able to take pictures, as I knew that I would want to share what I saw with friends and family. Everything from large metal structures bent and disfigured by the blast to pictures of people with radiation poisoning and burns were on display and it was interesting to walk through the different rooms and see the effects of the bomb on both people and objects. There were a few items I was able to touch including a small cider bottle that looked more like a piece of abstract art than a glass bottle, and while I found all of these things interesting, I was constantly reminded by my surroundings that I was surrounded by artifacts from a nuclear bombing. There were pictures of charred corpses, and even a military helmet with skull fragments embedded into the lining. That was horrifying. Visiting this museum was an incredibly moving experience, and I am glad that I was able to make it here.

From the museum, my friend and I walked back to the tram station and ended up riding all the way across town, though this time the tram was more crowded and I was surrounded by mask-wearing Nagasaki locals both young and old. We ended up all the way at the last stop on one the tram’s route and after walking a short distance we reached our intended destination: Sofuku-ji Temple.

My visit to Sofuku-ji Temple in Nagasaki marked another first for me. While I visited many churches and mosques during my recent travels in the Mediterranean and its surroundings, I had never been to a Buddhist temple. This was more than just a Buddhist temple though, in that Sofuku-ji, dating back to the mid-16th century, was the oldest structure in Nagasaki still standing after the atomic bombing. The site itself contained a few different buildings, including one housing a bell and two temple buildings with different Buddha statues inside. In addition, incense burned outside each building and the pleasing aroma contributed to a near-perfect ambience. As I walked around a bit more, I discovered a couple of tombstones that led me to a beautiful cemetery that extended up a hill as far as I could see. The tombstones were in abundance but not in overabundance, and each one looked beautiful. I spent a few more minutes at the temple before heading with my friend to one of the things I looked forward to for a long time: a real Japanese lunch.

We left the temple and headed down the road, passing the entrance to either another temple or possibly the cemetery I saw earlier (either way, it was beautiful and something I am sure that the locals take for granted) until we found a place to eat. The restaurant, called “Nagasaki sippoku Hamakatsu” (I only found this out as I took their business card on my way out) had a beautiful entrance and I had no idea what to expect as I entered. When I walked into the restaurant, everything was more or less no different to a western restaurant in that there was a lobby and waiting area, but when I was led to the dining room, the Japanese dining experience began. For the first time ever, I took not only my shoes off before entering a restaurant dining area but also sat down to eat. I figured in advance I would have to do all of these things, but it was an amazing experience nevertheless. The woman who sat us and took our order did not speak a word of English and the menu had no American translations, but thankfully, it had pictures of the food so I picked a lunch special that looked good, pointed to it, and sat [on the floor in a room with six-foot ceilings] taking in the atmosphere while waiting for food to arrive.

When our server finally returned with our lunch, I rediscovered that Japanese cuisine is more about quality and presentation than it is about quantity, for my meal consisted of many small things arranged beautifully on an elegant tray. Our server left for a minute after delivering our trays and shortly returned with a lighter and some boiling water in which we cooked our udon noodles on our plate. There was also some sashimi, tempura, and teriyaki (among other things) and everything tasted great. As I was wrapping up, the server returned with a small cup with some hot liquid inside and two small spheres inside. I tasted it and it was like drinking warm honey. I did not taste the spheres but the dessert was like nothing I had ever tasted. I got the bill and left, greatly satisfied with the Japanese dining experience.

From the restaurant, we ended up walking around the streets until we found ourselves in a massive shopping arcade and it was here that I realized how easy it was for me to see “eye to eye” with many of the Japanese. The majority of the people I encountered in the arcade were no taller than me and it was a different experience being one of the taller people in an environment where I was not surrounded by young children. Ahhhhh… the joys of being five foot five.

We made our way back to the ship after walking through the overcrowded arcade and I stopped by the spa to relax in the hot tub, sauna, and steam room before changing and heading to a rehearsal; it was a great way to end a spectacular day. My visit to Nagasaki was filled with cultural enlightenment, exquisite local cuisine, and a reminder of the horrors that exist in the world. The port was, without a doubt, one of the top five stops I have made since joining Queen Victoria.