August 7th, 2013: Nagasaki

 The port city of Nagasaki, found on the coast of the island of Kyushu, was a wonderful stop on our tour of Japan.

This is my second visit to the city. I had been 4 years ago and I remember the city being quite beautiful and unique in the influence from foreign countries. A lot of this has to do with the fact that Nagasaki was where the main trading port was for Portuguese and Dutch traders and when Japan was closed to foreigners for 200 years there was a small island built that allowed foreigners to live and trade.

Our day started with a visit to the Nagasaki Peace Park and Museum. The park is built on the grounds that once held a prison. Now it is an open park area with a statue that is meant to symbolize peace.

When we arrived they were having a rehearsal for the August 9^th Memorial, this year being 68 years since the bombs were dropped on Japan.

After the park we walked through the Hypocentre. Here we ran into a group of students travelling from Korea. Dad ended up striking up a conversation with the leader of the group and we followed them to the museum. Through this he said that the students offered to take us on their bus to lunch and then to the Memorial for the 26 Martyrs.

The Nagasaki Peace Museum is different from the Hiroshima one. It offers different information, a lot more on the aftermath and the after affects on the radiation.

After our lunch we visited the Site of the 26 Martyrs. The site memorializes the 26 Catholics who were crucified in 1567, It was during this time that Catholicism was outlawed in Japan. Of the 26 martyred, 6 were foreigners the remaining 20 were Japanese. The men were canonized in the 1862 and are considered the 26 Saints of Japan.

After our visit of the memorial we caught the streetcar and made our way to Dejima.

Dejima is a small, artificial island; that was built to be a trading post between Japan and the foreign world when Japan was going through its 200 years of isolation. The man made island was constructed by digging a canal through the small peninsula. The island is 9000 square meters and built in the shape of a fan. Initially built to house Portuguese traders, it was used more by the Dutch. The island is now considered a historic site and is no longer surrounded by water, but by the city of Nagasaki as it expanded and reclaimed land from the sea.

Model of the island

The island is an interesting to see because the buildings are a mix of Western and Japanese, with sliding walls and tatami floors, but western furniture.

After strolling though Dejima we made our way to Glover Garden. I had visited the garden 4 years ago and thought it was beautiful. Though there weren’t any hydrangeas to see the green of the garden was beautiful and the view from the balcony of the Mitsubishi house was breathtaking.

Nagasaki was another great city to see again.