Weekend Trip to Nagasaki

Anywho, I just got back from a weekend trip to Nagasaki with my Seminar II class.  Guh...  I did not get any sleep last night because the Japanese and Korean students were up all night drinking at the hostel.

Onto the topic at hand... It felt really strange, and eerie, visiting the second city in history to have an atomic weapon dropped on it.  Standing there at the black monolith marking the hypocenter... Looking up to see that I was standing in the spot directly underneath the bomb's detonation point.  The feeling was not unknown to me though.  Two years ago during my first trip to Japan I traveled to Hiroshima and felt the exact same sensation. 

Comparing the two, I guess I'd have to say that the A-bomb dome in Hiroshima had a slightly more profound effect.  At Nagasaki, there were the very few remains of the entrance to the Urukami Cathedral.  Just the right side of the entrance.  In fact, churches and cathedrals are seen all over Nagasaki. The streets and structures are also oddly European.  Then again, it isn't surprising when you know that Nagasaki has had the most historical relationship with the West than most cities in Japan.

Back on topic, the Peace Park outside the museum was beautiful.  Very vast and open with monuments spread out all over, and a huge sky-blue statue overlooking the entire place.  It was here that we met a survivor of the atomic blast, who was 14 when the event happened.  Describing the sight of those who weren't so lucky, lumbering about with shards of glass sticking from them, and purple skin sliding off...  And how he tried to give water to them, using a futon as a sponge.

Overall...  I had the same experience as Hiroshima on a smaller scale.  I could say that the reason why Hiroshima seemed to leave a greater impression on me was due to no subtlety in displaying everything that happened.  Right down to human remains.  At Nagasaki, the museum seemed to focus on inanimate remains, such as melted bottles.  There still seemed to be a very eerie essence floating around though.  And it would definitely leave an impression on people who haven't already been to Hiroshima.

On a lighter note, after visiting the museum and the Peace Park, we went to the Nagasaki Chinatown.  I guess I could say it's a warm-up to my visit to Hong Kong come Christmas break.  What can I say?  I can't get enough of Char Siu buns.  It did feel fairly authentic, which isn't surprising given how Nagasaki has one of the most recognized Chinatowns in Japan.  Like I said before, Nagasaki is historically the most open Japanese city to international trade.  I may have to wait until I go to Hong Kong for a final verdict on Nagasaki Chinatown's authenticity though.  There is a possibility that some food might have been altered ever so slightly for the Japanese palette.

Well, nothing much happened after that.  Having slept most of the way there, it feels great to be back in my own bed.

ではまた次回！