Rain Dampens Our Visit to Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Site
Day 31, 2024 Majestic Japan
Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024; Nagasaki, Japan
Today was the second of our visits to historic atomic bomb sites in Japan. The tour this morning in Nagasaki went to this city’s Atomic Bomb Museum, the nearby hypocenter (ground zero) and Peace Park. In many ways, the sites here and in Hiroshima are similar. In retrospect, I think that the experience of visiting Hiroshima would have been enough for me, as I’m not sure I gained additional perspective. However, I did get to know a little bit more about this fascinating city.
Nagasaki, on the western end of Japan and our only stop on Kyushu, the fourth major Japanese island, was the center of trade with Portugal and the Netherlands for centuries when the rest of Japan was closed. That European influence is seen in the city’s architecture. It also became a major center of heavy manufacturing, which put it on the short list of potential atomic bomb targets.
We were blessed with sunny skies and warm temperatures for our visit to Hiroshima, but today brought fairly constant light rain and winds.
My travel agent, Cruise Specialists, organized today’s half-day tour, and we had the best guide to date in Japan. She spoke fluent English and managed the group with ease. In the museum, we had the option of spending an entire hour examining the exhibits or leaving a bit early to cross the street to the hypocenter. Actually, the walk was under the street and involved two flights of wet stone stairs in the rain. I didn’t want to tempt fate and chose to stay at the museum, although 45 minutes was enough time there for me.
Just like in Hiroshima, the museum covered Nagasaki before the bomb (at 11:02 a.m. local time on Aug. 9, 1945, three days after the Hiroshima atomic bomb). Nagasaki was the second choice that day, as the primary target of Kokura was covered in clouds. The bomb was dropped over what once was a residential area where munitions factories were built for the war. Rebuilt ruins of the destroyed Urakami Cathedral fill one room. In another is a full-size replica of Fat Man, as the bomb dropped in Nagasaki was called.
Other displays show the total destruction of areas near the hypocenter. As in Hiroshima, about a third of the city’s residents were dead within a year.
Just a short bus ride away (and an easy walk on a nice day) is the Nagasaki Peace Park, with its 30-foot-tall Peace Statue. The immense figure combines western and eastern art, religion and ideology.
At the other end of the park is the Peace Symbols Zone with dozens of memorials from countries worldwide. The U.S. memorial features seven figures, representing the continents, linked to symbolize global peace and solidarity. In the middle of the park are prison ruins, where everyone – guards and prisoners – perished immediately.
By early afternoon, the rain took a break. Across the harbor I could see the portable dry dock barges and other indications of Nagasaki’s position as a leader in heavy industry.
Just across the street from the cruise terminal is a steep shopping street, filled with jewelry and higher-end tourist shops. I only glanced in the windows, passed by the interesting Art Book Museum, and headed to the top of his and the Oura Church, the oldest standing Christian church in Japan.
A block or two away are the Myōgyōji Temple and the Oura Suwa Shrine. A plaque notes the rarity of the close contact between the three worship centers and says the area is known as the Triangle of Prayers.
Quickly the tourist area gave way to a hilly residential neighborhood, with narrow lanes and steep stairways eventually leading down to a major street. I was on a hunt for a drug store or pharmacy to pick up some over-the-counter replacements, but each place on my map only provided prescriptions. The hunt will wait for Ishigaki or Okinawa.
Tonight we will sail southeast, away from the major Japanese islands and toward Ishigaki and Okinawa. The captain is keeping a close eye on Typhoon Krathon, which is heading toward Taiwan and threatening our Ishigaki port of call. He has been giving it even odds, but tonight said they may be improving slightly. We all have our fingers crossed.
