Nagasaki (part 2) and Hiroshima, May 12-May 20, 2024

We had enough time in Japan to travel relatively far, to Nagasaki, and then we backtracked to our airport-departure city, Hiroshima.  After visiting places with too many sights for visitors to take in over shortish, weeklong stays (Tokyo, Kyoto-Osaka-Nara), our visits to Nagasaki and Hiroshima were definitely slower-paced.  

Nagasaki

I had a hard time deciding whether to stay in Nagasaki or in the much larger city Fukuoka. It seemed like Fukuoka would be a smaller version of Tokyo to me and that we would want more than a day trip to interesting Nagasaki, so we continued our long-ish train ride passed Fukuoka on down to Nagasaki.  Of course, the City’s  horror of the atomic bomb in 1945 makes it a place to see but it also has an interesting trade history (as Scott laid out in his post!).  Beginning in the 1600s through much of the 1800s, Nagasaki (and actually, just a small part of the city) was the only place that non-Japanese were allowed in the whole country.   The Portuguese and then the Dutch were the only traders allowed to come to Japan - and only a small group of Dutch East Indies Company employees could live on the small, artificial island about a mile by a mile.   We took our stay slooooow…We had a sweet apartment, we had a Nintendo switch, and everyone except for me was a bit under the weather, so we took our stay easy!  

Chinatown in Nagaski was very close to our sweet apartment in the city. 

Peace memorial and museum.  The peace memorial plaza area is dominated by a large statue of a man gesturing against the bomb and for peace.  Just like every famous sight in Japan that we visited, this one was full with kids on school field trips (like us), all in their uniforms and crowding around their teachers (in an orderly fashion of course!).   The museum contained first person narratives of bomb survivors (though a large number of survivors died within a year of the bombing from radiation poisoning or other injuries) and a timeline of how the US dropped the bomb (new information for me included details like: the US had spent so much money on the Manhattan project by 1945 that some leaders thought we had to use the bomb to justify the cost spent developing it cost; that the US thought Japan was going to make peace with USSR which could have allowed unwelcome [to the US] USSR influence in Japan; US knowledge of a POW camp in Nagasaki; and Japanese leaders’ debates about whether to surrender or keep fighting after Hiroshima bomb and right before and after Nagasaki’s bombing.  The museum ended with a summary of efforts to ban all nuclear weapons worldwide; the video on the topic noted that Japan’s government does not support these efforts at the UN.   We were all affected by the experience; Alex a was a bit reticent to repeat it when we got to Hiroshima. 

Nagasaki peace memorial square; statue of figure in background is pointing up to the bomb and to a peaceful future.  Also, notice the school groups behind the kids; the plaza was full of school kids of field trips. 

In front of the Sedaka Saluki stature, the young girl from Hiroshima who died of leukemia at the age of 12; she inspired people all over the world to work for peace. 

A model of the Fat Boy plutonium bomb that hit Nagasaki in August 9, 1945. 

In front of Golden Peace statue. 

Dejima.  We walked through the reconstructed 1600s Dutch traders’ artificial island (which only had a small bridge connecting it to Nagasaki, so Japan could carefully controlling who was coming off the ships from Holland.   The neighborhood was reconstructed starting in the 1990s.  I found it fascinating to imagine how the City decided to do that; by the 1990s of course, the artificial island was almost fully filled in all around it and it was integrated into the whole city. Just thinking about those meetings to decide to move people and businesses out of the little neighborhood in order to reconstructed two- and three-story wooden houses in the middle of the City for visitors to admire (and for local kids to learn about Nagasaki’s historic role in trade) made my head hurt.   

At Dejima AND in front of Dejima model village. Double Dejima. 

Glover Garden.  We had traveled to Nagasaki on my birthday and Mothers’ Day and some members of our group wished to go shopping on their own for a little gifts.  So, I took a few hours to explore on my own. I visited a beautiful hillside garden called Glover Garden.   The now-garden preserves the home and sort of work compound of a Scottish man named Thomas Blake Glover. He was a merchant who traveled to Japan and settled in Nagasaki (like many traders before him) in 1859.  He sided with Meiji against the Tokagawa shogun and when the Emperor came to power in 1868 (“Meiji Restoration”), he then assisted in the industrialization and modernization of Japan, founding companies that eventually became Mitsubishi (he began a shipbuilding company) and a beer company that later became Kirin beer.  Fascinating person; he is reported  to be the inspiration for the novel The Pure Land, written by Scot Alan Spence.  Rumors spread that the American novelist John Luther Long wrote Madam Butterfly in part based on Glover’s life that is The Pure Land is loosely based on.   These rumors are disbelieved according to Wikipedia, but! That did not stop the curators of the Glover Garden from placing statutes of both Puccini (Madam Butterfly opera composer and native of Lucca, Italy which is so close to the location of my ancestors) and of Maura Tamaki, a Japanese opera singer who portrayed Cio-cio San, the lead role.  

Needless to say, I enjoyed myself immensely! The Garden was gorgeous, way up on a hillside. I was alone so I was able to observe people so well, there were so many school kids visiting and I enjoyed eavesdropping on a group of four, middle-aged Australians who were maybe on a cruise together and chatted about their knees hurting on the downhill (the Garden nicely has these escalators that take you to the top of the Garden so you mainly have to walk downhill on the visit).  Ah, I think I just enjoyed having a lively, internal monologue for a few hours.  I realize being together so much silences my thoughts; I am so extroverted that my inner voice is drowned out by my involuntary need to see and respond to any current or future need of my family members.. In other words, when we are together, all of my thoughts are about taking care of their current needs and predicting and preparing for their future needs..  I do not say this as though I am such a good person; I think it is a symptom of being very extroverted; I wish I could pause it or slow it down!   

     

View from Glover property was fantastic. 

Playground visit.  Normally, I do not document with words many of our playground visits.  This one was funny though; Scott stayed home and I took the kids on a longish (+30 min) trek to the largest playground I could find in walking distance. You see, Japan had been a bit disappointing in the playground department, so I wanted to find one with space where they could throw the frisbee.  Up the famous Nagasaki hills we trekked, through a steep, hillside cemetery until we reached the flattened space.  Alex and Luke played (albeit, with some complaints because it was quite sunny and warm). 

Katie and I set up shop on a pentagon-shaped bench beneath the shade of a little gazebo (she has outgrown nearly all play structures) and we began making daisy-chain tiaras. Awhile into our visit, a group of people came towards us, maybe 20 people, some walking slowly, some being pushed in wheelchairs by young women. One of the younger women waved at us and loudly said “Hello! Hello!”  After looking around, we eventually realized she was talking to us and her English “Hello” meant, Can we come join you in the shade?  I deduced that this was a group of “nursing home” (not sure what they call then in Japan) residences, out for a normal walk to the park and that we were probably sitting in their usual shade spot. You can imagine how it was, two foreigners (with two white boys running around wildly) in the small gazebo with 20+ Japanese, older folks who have no social shyness about them at all.  They spoke to us in Japanese and made their younger companions try to use their English or their google translate to get across the following messages. She (Katie) is so pretty! How old? 18? What? 12? No! Have her stand up! Look at how tall she is! Stand next to her mother.  Look at how big and tall! Touch her arm. Touch her mother’s arm. Look at it! (I think they were commenting on how tan my arm was; people in Japan are very sun-conscious and I figured my skin was tan and not-a-good-way.)  One woman next to me told me she was 85. That would mean she was about 4 years old when America bombed Nagasaki… I wondered what she thought of the American woman sitting with her.   It was a memorable interaction. The kids and I talked on the walk home about those interactions, how we will remember it, and how those residents will maybe remember the people from California they met, with the tall 12 year old and the blond boys running around in circles, being goofy. And how they might not meet other people from California for a long time and how it’s important to be friendly in their situations (I am often ridiculed by the kids for talking so much to strangers - funny, I used to do that to my mom - but I think I convinced them in this case, we are representing the place that we are from and that making a good impression on people is memorable for them and shapes what they think about people from our country and State). 

Killer daisy-chain shot, with Nagasaki behind. 

Alex, happily modeling my daisy-chain. 

Nagasaki in background. 

Nagasaki ropeway (one of the top three views in the WORLD!).  We started to think it it is very funny on this trip to encounter signs that say: “Top dam/mountain/glacier/church/etc in the World” titles for visitor attractions.  One of the top 5 engineering wonders of the world! One of the tallest residential structures in the southern hemisphere! Among the top birding sights worldwide!  So, we had to take the Nagaski ropeway (gondola) that is one of the top three view locations in the WOLD!.  It was an enjoyable experience; all of my family got too cold to stay outside for long (as they are not, how can I say it, planners with regard to wearing clothing for cooler temperatures?) so I took the opportunity to wander around the 360 degree viewing platform, to see Nagasaki’s urban harbor and then out to the west, looking at the East China Sea.

On the walk to the ropeway, late afternoon. 

We caught to gondola at a great time, not too crowded, but getting to be dusk. 

Scott and Katie at the lower viewing platform in Nagasaki. 

Alex and Luke, lower viewing platform but still great view of Nagasaki below. 

At sunset time, you couldn’t get a spot on the viewing platform edge to yourself! 

A bit smoggy but a lovely sunset, looking west/southwest. 
 

Same view, full sunset. 

Goodbye, Top Three View in the World! 

Hiroshima

We took the train from Nagasaki to Hiroshima and walked through the much larger city to our apartment which was sort of a funny place; over a restaurant in what seemed to be a converted office space.  Small, two bedrooms, but the typical Japanese style of separating the toilet from the shower/sink proves so helpful in a small apartment with 5 people showering, tooth brushing, and toileting!   It was also interesting to imagine how hard/easy it is to convert office space, given the many conversations about this in US cities, as so much downtown office space remains vacant after COVID.  Our apartment unit was very functional BUT there were very few windows; so few that it was difficult to wake up at a normal hour without an alarm clock; body-time was very hard to set and keep without sunlight signals.  If we lived in the apartment, maybe one of those sunlight clocks would help keep your body on a rhythm. 

Anyhow, on to the sights! We stayed near the peace memorial park and museum and visited that area twice; we tried the local dish okonomiyuka; we toured Hiroshima-Jo castle; we lucked out at a baseball game; and finally, had out last (in Japan) meal to Sushiro and visited a contemporary art museum. 

 

Peace memorial park and museum.  Hiroshima’s commemoration of the tens of thousands who immediately died in the booming and about an equal number who lasted dies of bomb-injuries includes the bomb dome (Genbaku dome, is intentionally kept in its skeleton form, as it was after the booming on August 6, 1945 - the building had been a commercial exhibition hall); a moving museum; and large ground with fountains, statues, and green areas where little, 10-year old boys sometimes practice sumo wrestling while their parents try to shush them.  I can attest that there was no wresting when we visited the museum though; it is very well done and includes a darkened, winding area that we visited with hundreds of other people. The route had us lined up with so many people reading and looking at individual’s horrific experiences; for almost an hour, we walked through without the ability to go backwards or forwards much except in the line of people and EVERYONE, the whole time, was completely hushed. So hushed that during that period, one person’s phone ring sounded and the whole place turned and looked. It was very impactful; we had a plan with Alex for him to choose at any time to exit and we would meet him later at meeting point as he requested after we went through the Nagasaki museum about a week earlier; he decided to stay the whole time though.  

In front of the A-bomb dome. 

Dome in the background. 

Hiroshima-Jo Castle.  We stopped by this castle briefly; it was built in the 1600s and of course destroyed in WWII; it was rebuilt in the 1950s.  Each kiddo got to pick up a samurai sword, to feel the weight (pretty light) and we climbed up the tower. 

Alex checking the samurai sword weight. 

In front of Hiroshima-Jo Castle. 

Nice river view. 

Scott restrained himself and the children from gonging! this drum that has a sign cleaning saying no gonging.  

Trying the local omelette-noodle specialty okonomiyuka. Eh.. Maybe (likely) it is better with meat? Cabbage and noodles and eggs and American cheese and a sweet sauce meant that.. I was eating that whole plate and Katie was taking a small, perfunctory bite. 

Baseball fortune. Some readers may remember that we failed to get baseball tickets in Tokyo, but I figured we could find another baseball game in Hiroshima. Well, fast-forward to Nagasaki when I started looking at Hiroshima baseball games.  Bad luck! The only games in Hiroshima during our visit was a three-game series against… the Tokyo Giants! The Giants are like the Yankees of Japan baseball and, shocker, the tickets online were completely sold out for all three games. I was seriously working my google translate to try to find something.. Third-party sales were 3-4x the face value of the tickets AND required hand delivery to a house in Hiroshima, something I could not risk in our future, Hiroshima airbnb.  So!  In Nagasaki I resigned myself to bitter disappointment, that we had spent ~4 weeks in Japan during baseball season, and failed to attend a game. Big, internal sigh. 

Our second night in Hiroshima, I took a walk to the baseball stadium at the start of the Friday night game, just to see how the atmosphere was, to see if we could watch it on a tv near the stadium. Bad luck, I had walked to the wrong Mazda Zoom Zoom stadium (there are two).  Oh well, we woke up the next day leisurely, I suggested we walk to the (correct) stadium again, to check out the atmosphere, maybe buy a Hiroshima Carp hat, and watch a few innings at a local place. We walked a long ways and then entered the stream of red-jersey, Carp fans toward the stadium. We got to the part where they were checking bags and gazed about; then we started to round the stadium, just looking for MoMo’s-like bars to pop into. We passed a ticket gate; few people were standing there and we were expecting that the hand-written, Japanese sign to say Sold Out so we almost kept walking.  I said, eh, I’ll just go ask the ticket person; I typed into google translate, “Any tickets I can buy for today or tomorrow’s game?” The woman took out a piece of people and write “13” and pointed right. She was saying, Go to gate 13.  We got a bit excited. At gate 13, the google translate exchange (with some help from some other Americans) revealed that they had tickets for the game that starts in 5 minutes!  Wow!  Cash-only though; Scott and Luke took off to find an ATM and we remaining three waited, in contained-excitement… Finally (4 minutes later), Luke came running from a block away, yen stuffed in his hands; He hurled the bills at me, I bought our 5 tickets on the third-base line, and we went into the stadium!  Wow! We were soooo excited!  

Such an unexpectedly fun day!  So sunny, we sat in front of these Americans who worked at Toyota in Michigan and were working in Japan for a year and behind a very fun group cheering like mad. We amazingly and for the first time in my life, were featured on the Jumbotron! And, having fallen behind 2 to 0 in the first and second inning, the Carp came back to win the game 4 to 3, including a very exciting 9th inning where the Giants scored one run and had the bases loaded to tie or even go ahead.  So many foul balls came our direction; one was a seat next to me and two guys grabbed at it at once; the both had their hands on the ball and looked at one another; I butted in and motioned that they should rock-paper-scissors for it which they promptly did (such a universal game). I felt a little badly the whole rest of the game for the guy who lost though, like it was my fault that he had thrown rock.  :) We capped the day off walking out of the stadium with such happy fans and getting chatted up by some cheerful-drunk guys who really wanted a photo with Alex and Luke.  They’re famous. For some unknown reason. 

One of several different things in Japanese baseball: Fans can bring n their own drinks (including beer); they stop at these tables provided by the stadium to pour their drinks into paper cups to take into the stadium.  

      

The glorious ticket moment! 

So excited. 

We got these balloons, that fans were asked to blow up and not tie; then, during the 7th inning stretch, everyone let them go at once and they created this giant, and scenic swirling-red-balloons sight! 

A moment of glory! Scot caught a pic of us on the Jumbotron; I am wearing my stylist straw hat in the lower, right hand corner of the screen. 

Took this pic of my beer and you can just see the woman behind with the keg-backpack on; beers are served by young women carrying (small) kegs up and down the stairs. Different than US! 

Here’s the happy drunk guy, having his friend take his pic with our stars. I took this one, Scott stayed close by. 

We finished up our visit to Hiroshima with a quick visit to a temple and a contemporary arts museum (that I enjoyed; I am often amazed at the abstract thinking that goes into modern art pieces and imaging a human working on something for a long time and receiving commissions to create something that has so many interpretations (or none); that sort of passion for something just fascinates me!).  Then! It was time to head out to Korea!  

Bye bye Hiroshima.