20th - 22nd Oct 2019
I booked in (by internet) to another excellent (£45pn) APA hotel (left) which was coincidently, and conveniently, just opposite the railway station. It had an 'Oirish Pub' attached and there was another just around the corner. A bit of luck there.
Right: Plus various rather odd sculptures.
Back to the station and a bus ride to the Nagasaki Ropeway. This is a cable car which goes to the top of Inasa-Yama (Mt. Inasa) to the west of the city.
It is a comfortable 5 minute ride in a smart gondola to the summit where there is a viewing station including a good restaurant. You can stand on the roof (telescopes provided).
Right: A sort of 'montage' outside the restaurant which was advertising a concert with the night-time view as a backdrop...so I've seen it now and no need to revisit after dark.
Left: Our delightful 'white-gloved' gondola operator.
There is a small island off the west coast near here called Hashima Island. It was a seriously major coal mine until closed down in 1974. Up to then it housed its own 'high-rise' community which was considered the world's most densely populated place. Since 1974 it has been deserted and left to the mercies of nature whereafter the buildings have semi-collapsed and become overgrown; rather similar to the deserted town of Pripyat near Chernobyl. It is nick-named 'Battleship Island' and you can see why from its silhouette (right).
Guided tours were organised around this place until the typhoon at the beginning of September (not the recent Hagibis one which never affected this area) rendered the structures to become even more unsafe. They are restoring them for future tours. So now you can either take a (expensive) boat trip around the island or go to the Gunkanjima Digital Museum near the docks. Here they have some very hi-tech visual displays of the ex-life on the island and you can take a '3D Virtual Tour' around the place. I did this. Quite spooky, but no means of getting photos. Right: A model of the island in its heyday.
Then on uphill (Nagasaki is very hilly) to the Glover Gardens. After paying ¥650 entry fee (wow!) you get taken up to the top on escalators and moving walkways. These gardens hold some two dozen former (rebuilt in most cases) very grand homes of the city's Meiji period European residents (after the Shoguns). It is beautifully landscaped.
Left: This is an example of one such; the former Mitsubishi No.2 Dock House at the highest point.
Left: The renowned and enterprising Scotsman, Thomas Glover, who was one of the chief 'movers and shakers' in these parts at the end of the 19th century. It was he, mentioned previously, who built Japan's first railway amongst much else including starting what became the Mitsubishi industry.
Post Script. Right: A dusk view from the harbour up the river to the north.
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| Nagasaki City looking north-east from Mt. Inasa. |
Another efficient train journey; a 3¼ hour trip with a change of train in Shin Tosu from the Shinkansen to something called the 'Express Famome' which got me into Nagasaki at 2.50pm.
Nagasaki is a port city on the south-west tip of Japan (Kyushu Island). It started off as a Portuguese trading port in the 16th century, followed by the Dutch and became wealthy as a result. Lots of cruise ships still call in here. It is a long narrow city running north-south.
I booked in (by internet) to another excellent (£45pn) APA hotel (left) which was coincidently, and conveniently, just opposite the railway station. It had an 'Oirish Pub' attached and there was another just around the corner. A bit of luck there.
Right: The interesting and efficient booking in system where you just slap your passport onto this computer screen, fill in a few details and your room keycard is spat out at the bottom.
I visited the Irish Pub later that afternoon (touristing on hold) to watch the World Cup Rugby matches; Wales v France and later Japan v South Africa. There was an enthusiastic crowd including this (temporarily) happy Welshman and his Australian wife.
Of course Nagasaki is well known for the second horrific US atomic bomb attack at 11.02am on 9th August 1945, just three days after the Hiroshima one, when the B-29 bomber, 'Bockscar', dropped a much bigger bomb, 'Fat Man' on the city. About 74,000 people were killed instantly followed by tens of thousands more due to radiation and burns in the following days and months. In fact Nagasaki was the secondary target (cloud cover prevented the primary target, Kokura, from being hit). The main target in Nagasaki was to have been the Mitsubishi arms factory in the south of the city, but in good ol' American fashion they missed, and the 'hypocentre' was above Urakami Cathedral in the north of the city. 200 Allied POWs in a prison camp in Urakami were also killed (what a tragic cock-up that was!).
There is an interesting story of a worker in the Mitsubishi factory in Hiroshima who was caught in the open and badly burned by that explosion. His house was flattened but his wife survived. The family was evacuated to Nagasaki the next day. Guess what? He was further injured two days later when the bomb fell there. I wonder what his thoughts were? He actually survived, produced two healthy children and died at the ripe old age of 86. The effects of radiation can be somewhat unpredictable.
As in Hiroshima there is a Memorial Museum in the northern Urakami district (a 2 mile tram journey) which contains similar exhibits as the Hiroshima one, if on a slightly smaller scale. Again, lots of gruesome photographs, a clock stopped at 11.02am, mangled artefacts and accounts from survivors and heroic rescuers. Right: A full size replica of the 'Fat Man' bomb, Yes, it was yellow.
As an aside, there is a very efficient, comprehensive and cheap tram service around the city using very charming, colourful and old-fashioned trams. I used them a lot. I forgot to get a photo of one.
There is an interesting story of a worker in the Mitsubishi factory in Hiroshima who was caught in the open and badly burned by that explosion. His house was flattened but his wife survived. The family was evacuated to Nagasaki the next day. Guess what? He was further injured two days later when the bomb fell there. I wonder what his thoughts were? He actually survived, produced two healthy children and died at the ripe old age of 86. The effects of radiation can be somewhat unpredictable.
As in Hiroshima there is a Memorial Museum in the northern Urakami district (a 2 mile tram journey) which contains similar exhibits as the Hiroshima one, if on a slightly smaller scale. Again, lots of gruesome photographs, a clock stopped at 11.02am, mangled artefacts and accounts from survivors and heroic rescuers. Right: A full size replica of the 'Fat Man' bomb, Yes, it was yellow.
As an aside, there is a very efficient, comprehensive and cheap tram service around the city using very charming, colourful and old-fashioned trams. I used them a lot. I forgot to get a photo of one.
Left: A cut-away model of the insides of the bomb and a detailed description of how it worked (also in English). Beyond my comprehension.
Right: There were several exhibits of burnt and tattered clothing. This one included a photo (taken much later) of a burns victim. Keloids (large disfiguring scar growths) were a common phenomenon of radiation burns.
Across a main road from the museum and up on raised ground was the Peace Park which featured (left) the supposedly dove-shaped 'Fountain of Peace'.
Right: Plus various rather odd sculptures.
Left: The main statue, the Nagasaki Peace Statue, a 10 ton bronze at the base of which people are still leaving flowers.
Right: Hypocentre Park. The black stone column marks the point above which the bomb exploded. There are bomb-blasted relics around the outside including a section of the wall of the destroyed original Urakami Cathedral. A new one has been built but I didn't get to see it.
It is a comfortable 5 minute ride in a smart gondola to the summit where there is a viewing station including a good restaurant. You can stand on the roof (telescopes provided).
The view over the city at night is considered exceptional and ranked as one of the worlds top three night-time views (alongside Hong Kong and Monaco).
Left: The view over the harbour at the south end of town. The river which runs south into the sea here is called the Urakami-gawa. I think 'gawa' is Jap for 'river'. The rest of the view is at the top of this blog.
Right: A sort of 'montage' outside the restaurant which was advertising a concert with the night-time view as a backdrop...so I've seen it now and no need to revisit after dark.
Left: Our delightful 'white-gloved' gondola operator.
There is a small island off the west coast near here called Hashima Island. It was a seriously major coal mine until closed down in 1974. Up to then it housed its own 'high-rise' community which was considered the world's most densely populated place. Since 1974 it has been deserted and left to the mercies of nature whereafter the buildings have semi-collapsed and become overgrown; rather similar to the deserted town of Pripyat near Chernobyl. It is nick-named 'Battleship Island' and you can see why from its silhouette (right). 
Guided tours were organised around this place until the typhoon at the beginning of September (not the recent Hagibis one which never affected this area) rendered the structures to become even more unsafe. They are restoring them for future tours. So now you can either take a (expensive) boat trip around the island or go to the Gunkanjima Digital Museum near the docks. Here they have some very hi-tech visual displays of the ex-life on the island and you can take a '3D Virtual Tour' around the place. I did this. Quite spooky, but no means of getting photos. Right: A model of the island in its heyday.
It was a short walk past Oura Cathedral (left), Japan's oldest church. Built in 1864 it is dedicated to the 26 Christians who were crucified in Nagasaki in 1597 when under Shogun rule.
Then on uphill (Nagasaki is very hilly) to the Glover Gardens. After paying ¥650 entry fee (wow!) you get taken up to the top on escalators and moving walkways. These gardens hold some two dozen former (rebuilt in most cases) very grand homes of the city's Meiji period European residents (after the Shoguns). It is beautifully landscaped.
Left: This is an example of one such; the former Mitsubishi No.2 Dock House at the highest point. 
They all have fantastic views over the harbour (right).
Left: The renowned and enterprising Scotsman, Thomas Glover, who was one of the chief 'movers and shakers' in these parts at the end of the 19th century. It was he, mentioned previously, who built Japan's first railway amongst much else including starting what became the Mitsubishi industry.
His residence, Glover House, is the grandest mansion in the gardens, but it was closed off behind screens for renovation.
Right: ....and a statue of him next to the café in the gardens. It was getting dark by now as I settled down for a refreshing and much needed glass of beer. Can't think why my photo has a blue patch on his head and feet. They weren't on the statue!
I also took a walk up what is called the Dutch Slopes, a cobbled street with many attractive wooden 'colonial' houses on it. Steep and good exercise. Also, before tramming it back to my hotel, an evening wander around Chinchi Chinatown, a busy brightly lit and humming 'entertainment' area which also contains the main tram station.
Lovely city and a crying shame that the US flattened it in 1945 as I expect they destroyed a lot of beautiful colonial architecture (as well as the mass slaughter of innocents). As with Hiroshima I only had time to scratch the surface regarding sightseeing.
Off again the next morning back to Hiroshima and then intending a visit to what sounds like a very interesting Naval Museum in the port of Kure.
Left: At the railway station. I can't help but be impressed by the way the schoolchildren such as these are always smartly dressed, in this case in quasi-naval uniforms, and march around in well- disciplined file.
Post Script. Right: A dusk view from the harbour up the river to the north.
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