Out after 10 Years (16): Nagasaki

Going south, the next part of trip was to go to Nagasaki, the city which if I had not been to, I would have been deeply regretted it. The city, which if I travel to Japan again, I will visit again, certainly. However, this part of the trip, on train, as usual, was a little bit more stressful than the other parts. If you miss your train, there shall be usually no problem. You go and adjust the ticket, meaning getting permission to get on board another one but still have to go through the process and I don't know what you would do, if you're in a remote area where there's no office. 

When you're going to Nagasaki, you are transferring to Kyushu Shinkansen, which although a different company, you still can use your JR Pass. However, at one point, or two, you need to be fast, jumping out of one train and jumping into another one! 

I, again, decided to get a cab after I arrived at the station. My mistake, from the beginning, was taking the big and heavy computer from work, because I was making sure I wouldn't miss major things from work. Then I bought a few stuffs in Tokyo and by the time I was in other cities, I had two heavy bags in addition to my backpack! The problem was that I had forgotten to register for Mt. Fuji climb. So, half of the stuff in my backpack were useless! 

Nevertheless, the taxi did not make a mistake this time and I was at Hotel Forza in a shopping area of the city. This actually happen to be a good part to land, shopping, dining, seaside park, almost everything was close by. But I'm sure there are other parts of the city that you can stay and enjoy.

Nagasaki was the second city which was targeted by Americans using Atomic Bomb. However, because it's too far away from Tokyo, not as many tourists visit it. I also learnt that Nagasaki was one of the major cities that the foreigners land many years ago and that was Spanish and Dutch, but they never had the same impact that on a country such as the Philippines. There also, appears, to be a neighbourhood that only foreigners from Europe lived and that area was even governed by themselves. Chinese also was part of the city and there still a is small dining and shopping area exists. 

This picture shows a moment that men are pushing a sort of cart while drums and other instruments are being played. I do not know what this, ceremony, if I can call it is called but it was very exciting the way they beat those drums, they were shouting and yelling, throwing their fist in the air and of course Japanese flute is amaxing

It is a beautiful city, and it is also hot because you're closer to the south. In fact, you're 1200 km (745 m) south of Tokyo! Most of my time was spent in viewing what is left from the atomic bomb attack and the related monuments and for that, I walked all the way from the hotel which was nearly 1 hour walk but gave me the chance to see parts of the city as well! I also rested in a cafe near the Peace Statue and had a cup of (horrible!) coffee and a few pieces of (not so appealing!) cake and bought a few small souvenirs. The problem with these tourist spots, in every country, and specially in a populated country such as Japan is that it's just enough that a couple of schools decide to bring the student for a visit, and you're done! That, of course, happened when I was there but I still was able to see most of the things and take a few pictures. The interesting thing about the memorial section for the victims of atomic bomb in Nagasaki was the number of statutes and pieces that the former Eastern Bloc countries, as a sign of opposition to the US, has donated to the City of Nagasaki! 

My rest gave me the strength to go all the way, and, on my way, I checked a shopping mall and its food sections and stores, but I didn't buy anything as the same story was narrated there: The kind of food that I usually don't eat and also expensive! 

This, probably, is not such an important shrine but I was walking around the city in the first afternoon after my arrival and I noticed that. There was an old man whom I approached by saying Sumimasen, which means excuse me. He turned back to me and I showed him the sentence that I had typed on my phone saying: Am I allowed to go up to see the shrine and he confirmed

One of the most interesting things that I encountered, amongst many others in Japan, happened in Nagasaki. There were groups of people who had some sort of street traditional performance with traditional music and dress. I don't know exactly what it was about but I saw them a few times on the streets and people loved them and cheered on them. I know something like that could rarely happen in, for example, in Tokyo, considering the congestion and population. Not that it's totally impossible and I think they have their own street performances and festivals but it was something really interesting. Unfortunately I only can post pictures of that here in this post but I might post a clip to YouTube one day, although the quality of them is not so good as I used a cellphone camera. I'm thinking of buying a video camera and perhaps a new camera to replace my old Canon. Some might say that they shall be purchased in Japan as that where they are designed and manufactured but the electronic equipment that the Japanese companies manufacture for exporting is different from what they make for domestic use. I bought a Casio watch and despite the fact that the store treated me very nicely and even gave me the warranty card, I realized that all the instructions were in Japanese after I unwrapped the box! Besides, it might have difficulty finding battery for that. Nevertheless, if I can't fix the old camera (a sort of hair-like object appears in photos!) I will purchase one before heading to Japan or shortly after my arrival but I need to do a good study.

The other time I went to Seaside Park and then I decided to go and see Magami Bridge but soon I realized that I had made a mistake! My plan, as usual, was to walk to the bridge, cross on to the other side, by walking of course, take a few pictures and then walk back but after a few blocks I realized that I was walking beside Road 499, a very busy highway-like road and it'd not be so pleasant to do that, neither safe! So i simply turned back and headed to the hotel! This already is listed on the To-do list for the time I'm going back. 
Glover Garden is one of the main destinations in the Nagasaki area. I didn't go inside. I simply didn't want to pay the admission but now I think I shall go on my next trip. Apparently it is a complex that the foreigners used to live, as I stated above and now has been turned into a revenue spot for the locals! You shall check the area, even if you have no intention to see the garden. There are plenty of very nice stores where you can buy food and souvenirs. That, pretty much, is all I can tell about Nagasaki. I walked back to the station, It was not hard and since Nagasaki is a smaller station compared to the other major cities, it was not hard to find Shinkansen. My destination was Narita International Airport.