My solo trip to the peaceful city of Nagasaki turned into quite a lively holiday as I ended up being there at the same time as their largest festival. I visited sooo many attractions in these 2 days…
0:30 Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum
1:30 Nagasaki Peace Park
2:08 Sanno Shrine
3:10 Kunchi Festival
6:32 Glover Garden + Nagasaki Traditional Performing Arts Museum
8:14 Confucius Shrine and Historical Museum of China
9:10 Nagasaki Seaside Park
10:16 Nagasaki Shinchi Chinatown
11:05 Mount Inasa
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MUSIC by Music by @HoobeZa
Link – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6qA_JxTAnw&t=0s
This morning, I am in the city of Nagasaki. I am staying near the famous Spectacles Bridge. It is named this because the reflection in the water makes it looks like a pair of glasses. I took a stroll along the river before getting the tram to the Atomic Bomb Museum
And memorial hall. An important part of Nagasaki’s history and a must visit. The memorial hall holds glass columns that face towards the epicenter of the bomb. Inside the glass holds the names of all the victims. It is a peaceful place to reflect on the tragic events of the past.
I then made my way to the museum. You can see the remnants of many items here including parts of a church that was destroyed. The museum does a great job of teaching about the science behind the atomic bomb as well as the devastating effects on people’s lives.
It is a call for peace and the abolishment of nuclear weapons all around the world. Near the museum, I found the Flame of Peace. This flame will continue burning until all nuclear weapons are abolished. A day we can all hope for.
A short walk away is the Peace Park which features this symbolic statue. The hand pointing towards the sky reminds us of the threat of nuclear weapons whilst the extended arm calls for eternal peace. The folded leg is in meditation position and the
Leg rooted to the ground asks us to take a stand to help the world. I saw many other statues in the park as well as the Fountain of Peace. After this, I walked to Sanno Shrine. Here there is a one-legged Torii Gate
That miraculously still stands after half of it fell down from the force of the bomb. There is also a tree that was split down the trunk by the blast and presumed to be dead. But it came back to life and now looks like two thriving trees.
Both of these are truly amazing considering the surrounding area was completely destroyed after the attack. A great metaphor for hope and resilience. After this, I went to find something for lunch and found an American themed bar and cafe that did burgers. The owner also does some fun latte art.
Once finished, I headed back out to find some large crowds in the streets as I was fortunate enough to have come here at the same time as Nagasaki’s largest festival, the Kunchi Festival. It was the last day of this 3 day festival that celebrates autumn and bountiful harvest.
Nagasaki has a rich history with a lot of cultural influence from outside of Japan and you can see this in the various dances and performances, some having Chinese or Dutch influence. It was so busy that by the time I reached Suwa shrine, where the main performances take place,
It was packed with so many people that I could barely move. You can try and get paid seating for the performances but this is incredibly difficult, even for locals. But you can follow the parade and enjoy the performances around the city instead.
After the shrine had emptied out after the dances, I paid a visit and got a fortune slip here. I got medium luck and it came with a small charm too. Some of the advice given is quite funny, like I got told to change my eye makeup.
You can see the portable shrines, or Mikoshi in Japanese, that were used in the parades. However, the celebrations did not end here. They carried on all day and all night. I followed the festivities in the street and watched various performances go around the city to bless shops and businesses.
One shop owner very kindly let me into their doorway to get a good shot of the performers whilst their business was receiving a blessing. Some of the larger performances happened in the covered shopping street. They were very lively and energetic.
I imagine these wooden floats are extremely heavy and the performers were doing this for ages. After following the parade for hours, it had gotten pretty late and I was tired and hungry. I got a late dinner at a champon restaurant called Yokohama. Champon is a local dish inspired by Chinese cuisine.
Maybe I was just very hungry, but this was really delicious and hearty. I then returned to my hostel to get some well needed rest. I stayed in this cute wooden capsule and slept pretty well. The next morning, I got breakfast at the cafe in my hostel. There was some
Interesting choices on the drinks menu and I went for this creme brûlée latte. After breakfast, I got on the tram to Oura Cathedral. I walked past the cathedral but I decided not to go inside because I wanted to spend my time in this area walking around Glover Garden.
I bought my ticket for the gardens and went up the escalator. The garden consists of various Western style buildings and has some nice views of the sea. The park was a foreign settlement sight built for a Scottish merchant. There is a beautiful view here overlooking the sea.
You can go in many of the buildings and see what the rooms may have looked like back then. You can even pay to dress up and take pictures around the garden. But I just opted to get this free photo that is included with my ticket.
I visited the cafe here and got a Dutch iced coffee and castella cake which is another regional specialty. I think they really enjoy the European aesthetic in Japan. The cake was so soft and fluffy and had crunchy sugar crystals at the bottom.
Here is also the Nagasaki Traditional Performing Arts Museum where you can see past performances and props from previous Kunchi Festivals. I got to watch a dragon dance performance that I didn’t get to see in the festival yesterday. After this, I walked to the Confucius Shrine and Historical Museum of China.
As Nagasaki was a gateway between Japan and the rest of the world, it had many Chinese residents. They built this shrine in 1893 to serve as a place of worship for the Chinese community. It was quite interesting to see a temple with such a different appearance in Japan.
There are many Chinese artifacts and teachings here. I liked the teaching of balance behind this bucket which you must keep filled with the right amount of water. If you forget and become complacent, the bucket tips over. But if you fill it too much, the bucket also tips over.
After leaving the museum, I enjoyed a nice walk towards and around the Seaside Park. I was lucky that it was such a sunny day and could see gorgeous sea views. I found a cafe here that did Turkish rice, which despite its name, is a special Nagasaki dish.
It consists of a pork cutlet with rice pilaf and spaghetti so it was pretty filling. Once I had finished my lunch, I went to check in to my accommodation for tonight. I decided to treat myself to a hotel with an hot spring for my last night in Nagasaki.
It’s a chain called Candeo Hotels. My room was pretty spacious for Japan. You obviously aren’t allowed to film in the onsen, but it was a nice rooftop bath with views over the city and was very relaxing.
After my bath and a nap in the hotel, I headed over to Nagasaki’s Chinatown to get dinner. It is quite a small Chinatown only consisting of a couple of streets and many of the restaurants were unfortunately closed. Possibly due to the festival over the weekend.
I did however come across a Ghibli store in this area which is the cutest Ghibli store I have been to in Japan. It was nicely decorated. So charming and cute. After this, I found a restaurant that did crispy noodles which I love. In Japan, this dish is called sara udon.
I found it pretty funny that I was sat on a table of 5 even though I was alone. Unlike Japanese places, many Chinese restaurants are made to serve large groups of people. After dinner, I went to take the bus to the base of Mount Inasa.
Here, there is a ropeway to the top of the mountain which has one of Japan’s top 3 night views. All the lights were very pretty to see and I could also see a cute light up heart too.
Although it was pretty, I was a little surprised it is rated as top 3 in Japan. What do you think? It was a great way to end my time in Nagasaki. A wonderful multicultural city with a rich and important history.
Although it is a little difficult to get here from mainland Japan, it was well worth the visit.