The Small Window to the Outside World

A long wait and a short post, I’m sorry. Dejima is a symbolic part of Nagasaki’s history, a small manmade island that was made to house the Portuguese Traders. When the Portuguese and Spanish were banned from Japan for trying to cause sedition using christianity, the Dutch traders (also christians but not as forceful) were moved to the island and kept as the only foreign partner to Japan. Dejima was connected only by a bridge and had strict curfews, very few Japanese people were allowed inside (except courtesans) and there were strict rules on the mobility of the dutch of Dejima. However it served for over 200 years as the major gateway to the outside world, including western navigation and medicine. When the Netherlands fell to the French it was the only spot that was ruled by the Dutch for a short time. A recreation of the island was recently started and is about halfway done.

The Last Atomic Bomb

It’s nearly impossible to go to both Hiroshima and Nagasaki and not compare, so I wont even pretend that I wasn’t thinking about Hiroshima’s museum the whole time I was in Nagasaki’s or that I was trying to imagine what it was like for Nagasaki when in Hiroshima. Generally, Nagasaki seemed to have a closer focus on the human aspect, this may only be because Hiroshima had the atomic bomb dome and therefore a lot of the beginning is scientific and deals with the symbol of the dome. Yet as soon as you walk in, the humanity section of the museum hits you in the face. It is similarly full of information about hibakusha (people who suffered from long term radiation effects of the bomb), tattered clothes and items, and testimonies from survivors. I watched about four testimonies and it took about an hour.

With all of this information about how the bomb effected humans, viewers will feel the effects of anger, disgust and a final hopeless depression very early on. The one that sums that arc up for me was a helmet with pieces of a person’s skull embedded into it. The museum also had a lot more (I felt) about the Americans who tried to stop the bombs from being dropped in the first place. The one thing I will always remember from that particular section was the estimate America made about the time of Japan’s surrender was only a few months after their “hastened surrender” due to the usage of the bomb. Finally, was a section I wished was in Hiroshima which was about people who had suffered from Nuclear bomb tests; people from not only places like Atoll but also Nevada. It answered a question Fukushima raised for me last year; have people in America ever suffered because of the US’ almost casual over-testing? Of course.

Finally, Nagasaki doesn’t have a dome but they have a few symbols of their own. There is a piece of a pillar from Urakami Cathedral and half of a tori that had survived the blast. Their epicenter is also marked in a park (unlike Hiroshima) along with a few chilling statues nearby.

This is how they celebrate hanami in Nagasaki

Hanami is the act of sitting and eating or drinking under sakura (cherry blossoms). By the time we had reached Nagasaki, sadly most of the trees were past their prime, but when there is still a flower to be seen on a tree there will be hanami, and so much of the celebration was still on-going. We unwittingly walked up to the top of a mountain and at the highest point found a group of young people cooking meat, and hawks circling overhead. This group decided the best thing would be to try and feed the hawks and started throwing bits of meat into the air.

And left it on a post or on a bat.

Until finally a sausage was thrown up and landed next to Michelle and freaked her out.

A Country of its Own

Despite its infamy, Nagasaki had a long standing history of being the center of international relations for over 250 years. As such, Nagasaki is in many ways like its own country.

Sakamoto Ryoma came here to set up the first ever Japanese trading company called the Kameyama Shachu. Like his hometown, it’s hard to take a few steps without being reminded of Ryoma.

Also located in Nagasaki is the house of Thomas Blake Glover, a Scottish arms dealer who not only helped support the forces that would reform Japan but also built the first railway in Japan. And to call it a house is an understatement.

Turning point of modernization

Shimonoseki has their very own idolized hero from the Bakumastu period. Takasugi Shinsaku led one of the first important battles of the Boshin War utilizing the Kiheitai. The Kiheitai were his own creation and a precursor to the ‘modern’ Japanese military, most important it was a group comprised mostly of farmers and other peasants, people who were not only barred from fighting but were expected to keep their heads down and take no part in any political matters that effected them. The battle ended with Bakufu forces setting fire to their outpost of Kokura castle and fleeing.

Though it may not seem like much, this was the first chip in class lines that would later lead to the complete abolition of the samurai class and the idea that all people should have a part in their government (though that government did block any attempts to create a populist party). This became his crowning achievement due to his untimely death from tuberculosis shortly after.

Where East Meets West

Shimonoseki is a city with a fairly rich history, starting first in the Gempei war, as the place where the Minamoto family had won the most decisive battle against Taira family, who was controlling the imperial throne until that time. This battle forced a member of the Taira family to take the infant emperor and commit suicide by plunging into the Kanmon straits to avoid capture.

Many years later, it is where the Choshu clan single handedly attacked British forces causing a massive counter attack that left Choshu’s battery completely stripped. Then in a few years following that incident, it was one of the first sites of the Boshin war, where Choshu had attacked and forced the Bakufu (who controlled Japan) to retreat from their castle in Kokura, across the straits.

Nowadays it is known for the best place to catch and eat Fugu (blowfish), a great view of the general area, and being a port that connects Japan to China and Korea by ferry.

Being a place where two major islands Honshu and Kyushu almost touch it’s not surprising it’s so rich in history of strife or that one can now walk between each island via an underwater tunnel. Just don’t try to swim across, because those currents are unreal.

Ten Petals

Last year I missed out on a local specialty, Omoigawa-zakura. Being in elementary school, when I had to have the students talk about things from Oyama, one of the most mentioned was Omoigawa-zakura. The difference is that this sakura has 10 petals instead of the usual 5. Before leaving Oyama, I was able to find the few that were blooming early. Not enough to do hanami, but a great to see anyway.

The Smell of the Sea

Before embarking for our journey for west Japan, we visited our friend and her family and they took us to Nakaminato in Ibaraki. Nakaminato is a coastal town a few hours from Tokyo that draws a lot of tourism, possibly because they have such good fish. First we went to eat sushi at the market’s restaurant. The prices were in the moderate range but the quality was as high and the market there is really large.

More sulphur than I’d ever dream of

Kusatsu is a relatively small onsen town in the mountains of Gunma. Living in the neighboring prefecture, Tochigi, JR had tried their best with ads to get me to Gunma, when I saw pictures of Yubatake I caved. Kusatsu is near a volcano called Shirane and has the most sulphur in its springs out of any other in Japan.

The town has two major public onsen, an onsen musem and a small theater where there are preformances of the traditional way of cooling down hot spring water. The museum is above the bus terminal and has pictures and information about all of the smaller bath houses inthe area, so you may want to go by before. The two major onsen are Sainokawara, which is outdoors, and Otakinoyu, which has many baths of varying temperatures. I opted to do something new and go to Sainokawara.

It was a slightly cool spring day, so the open-air onsen was a great success. The bath is huge and within itself has a gradient of temperatures, the hottest spot was probably as hot as any human could ever ask for. As opposed to the surrounding area and Yubatake, the bath itself didn’t smell so heavily of sulphur.

The biggest issue is getting there, the best option would be to take a Shinkansen to Takasaki, take the local agatsuma line to naganohara-kusatsuguchi from which you can catch a bus to Kusatsu. Assuming one was coming from the terminal Omiya (right outside of Tokyo) it would take about 2 hours & 15minutes (heavily dependent on train and bus times lining up) and cost ¥4770 one way (with unreserved seats). However, if you’re not Japanese you can get the JR Kanto pass for ¥8000 which would cover all except the bus (¥670 one way) and is unlimited riding (in Kanto) for 3 days. It’s definitely something that can be done in a day trip, since I did it in less than a day, and is somethin I would recommend to anyone who has even the slightest interest in onsen.

The former rulers of Tokyo

After the first Minamoto shogun had died, the real power had fallen into the hands of the Hojo who could technically be considered the regents of that time, they played a large part in fighting off Kublai Khan in the Mongolian Invasion (though not as much as the weather) and even after their large hold on the country was taken away, they always had a firm hold on most of the Kanto Region.

After Toyotomi Hideyoshi had all of the west in a way under his control, he moved foward to conquer the Hojo lands. The Hojo had been preparing for this and stripped down their other castles to make a last stand at Odawara castle. These other castels were the scenes of truly horrifying massacres, and in contrast Odawara was a seige that ended with little bloodshed, but a lot of significance. The most important resultant is that Tokugawa Ieyasu was given/sent to these lands where he built up a town called Edo, which is now called Tokyo.

The castle that stands there now is sadly a reconstruction, in the vein of a castle like Osaka’s. Inside there’s no real way to know that you’re actually in a castle and not a large museum.