Nagasaki Peace Memorial
A morning train ride brought us up to the north part of Nagasaki. We first entered the Peace Memorial Hall for Atomic Bomb Victims, which has a circular, outdoor walk to clear your mind before entering. We both knew today was going to be heavy but there is no real understanding until you are actually there. Everybody knows the main details regarding the World War II bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but it’s being there, hearing people’s stories and realizing the magnitude of all kinds of lasting damage that makes your heart hurt. Nearly 70% of the victims in Nagasaki were women, children and elderly. Those “lucky” enough to survive the initial impact most likely died a painful death within hours or sometimes days or months, not to mention the cancers related to radiation that occurred years after. All of the sad facts are easy to find but hard to remember. We hope that we as human beings never forget the tragedies that happened on August 6th and 9th 1945.
Later, we walked to the Hypocenter (the exact spot above which the bomb detonated, near what was then the largest Catholic church in Asia) which is now in a park just across the road from the museum and Peace Memorial Hall. On the way down there were several statues and monuments, each with thousands of folded origami cranes, a symbol of peace and healing. The hypocenter is wide open and mostly empty except for a cenotaph, a few statues and monuments where people stop to pray and remember.
In the park we encountered several school groups ranging from elementary children up to teenagers. The boldest in the crowd would practice their English by saying hello. We would reply with a hello or good morning and that was a big laugh for the kids. It was nice to lighten the mood this way. There was even one boy who told us that he was hungry, I replied and said “Me too, I’m starving!” and that was received with loud laughs and chuckles.
We walked through Heiwa-kōen (Peace Park) which had a fountain, many sculptures given by many nations around the world, and the Nagasaki Peace Statue. Even more students were in the park taking class photos in front of the statue.
Fukusai-ji Kannon Temple
We shifted gears in the afternoon by visiting a few temples and shrines. The most memorable of these was Fukusai-ji Kannon, a 60 foot tall Kannon statue riding on the back of a huge turtle. We were greeted by an old woman we later learned was 85. She asked us to join her as she guided us around the temple. The first place she took us was into the basement, which housed the end of a 25 meter Foucault Pendulum. The pendulum demonstrates the rotation of the Earth as it swings. It’s one of only five in Japan, and also the third largest in the world! The only ones bigger are in Paris and St. Petersburg. She then brought us into the main room of the temple and let us do a few hands-on activities that included beating different ceremonial drums. Inside, there were some photos of the area before and after the bomb. The temple had been totally burned to the ground. The one on the site now was reconstructed. There are some trees outside that show their growth, a charred section where they too burned, along with 65 years of regrowth! We ended the tour outside at the temple bell. To our surprise she told us to make a “little kong” and lightly hit the bell. This is the same bell that rings at 11:02 am every day, the exact time the atomic bomb exploded over Nagasaki.
The next day was rainy, but we had a nice walk through the famous Teramachi (temple row) and back and forth over some of the city bridges before moving on.
Photos here: https://picasaweb.google.com/TurtlesTravel/Nagasaki
