The day we arrived in Nagasaki, the sky was ready to open up and pour. It was like the heavens was pitying the city. We decided to tour the city ourselves instead of joining a shore excursion. We got a map from the volunteers at the port and proceeded to the train station (# 47). We walked and soon realized the crowd from the ship had disappeared. We ended up walking too far and missed the station altogether. Part of the reason we did that was because we were looking for a train station and not a train stop. We had to walk back to almost where we started and found the train stop.
When the train came, we got on through the back of the train. The people who were getting off the train used the front doors to get off while we lined up for the back doors. We don't pay for the train when we get on, instead we pay for the ride when we exit.
From the train stop, we walked to a map that showed where everything was. It was well laid out. The Peace Park was on the left, the hypocenter was on the right. We decided to visit the Peace Park first.
At the top of the escalators and stairs, the Peace Park welcomes visitors with the Peace fountain. Various sculptures were donated by countries to mark the memorial. The Peace Park was built to commemorate the Atomic bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945.
The Peace statue was huge. It is a bronze statue painted in blue and weighs over 10 tonne. It stands 33 feet tall. The sculpture has his right hand pointing to the threat of nuclear weapons, his left hand calling for peace and his left leg ready to stand up as a call for action.
Thousands of paper cranes are found near the Peace statue to signify peace.
We visited the hypocenter next. There was a black-stone monolith there, marking the spot where the bomb exploded 500 metres up. There was a plaque written in Japanese there that we could not read. If you're interested in what it reads, click here for the translation.
After visiting the Peace Park and Hypocenter, we went to the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum. The bomb exploded at 11:02am. This clock had stopped at the time of the blast. Coincidentally, we entered the museum right at 11:02am (I have proof of that on my phone).
The museum provided a timeline with photographs. Here is a link to a site that provides the same information.
Inside the museum was the facade of a church that was destroyed by the bomb. It was located just 500 metres from the hypocenter. The Urakami Cathedral in ruins.
The water tower mangled by the blast.
Replica of the bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki.
There were so many stories and artifacts at the museum of the people who parished on that day and survivors. For stories, I've listed some links below.
I feel for the 'hibakusha'. After returning from our trip, I read a bit on the people who survived the bombing. The Japanese called the survivors who were affected by the bomb a special name which is 'hibakusha'. I found out the 'hibakusha' were deprived of marriage and business. This is very sad. They were already traumatized by the horror of the bomb and devastation and throughout their lives, they were discriminated upon in business and in personal life. For more information about the 'hibakusha', click here.
Links to Survivors' Stories:
It was Easter Sunday and we wanted to visit a church. We walked up the hill to the Urakami Church which was rebuilt. The original one did not survived the blast. The front of the original church is in the museum and a column and stairs is by the hypocenter. Below is a picture of the original part of the church after the bomb.
There was a museum just off the church that we visited. There were some artifacts that were recovered from the bombing.
After the museum visit and the church, we took the train back to the Chinatown area where we wanted to spend some time exploring the area before returning to the ship. As we were walking by a school, I heard children laughing and playing. I imagined the day when the bomb was dropped. In a minute, all the sounds would be deadened. How sad?
We found the ancient stone 'Meganebashi' bridge that spanned over the Nakashima river. It was built in 1634 by a Chinese monk.
We visited a shrine, found a Japanese bakery, bought some Castella cake for souvenirs and walked through a covered street mall. Then it was time to find our way back the ship. We walked and found the train station and took the green train back to the pier.
Thanks for visiting our blog and being part of our adventure. It was a sad day for us but I'm glad we came to Nagasaki. I personally liked the city but I'm not sure if we would return here.
Upon leaving Nagasaki, I was thinking if I would see any of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Shipyards where they built all of the Imperial Navy warships.
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