While most of the group opted for the Tokyo trip, JT and decided to explore a different part of Japan. The 5 hour train ride to Nagasaki was not bad at all. We enjoyed the scenery traveling through cities like Hiroshima, Kobe, and Kokura (to name a few). We arrived around 7pm and headed for our hotel that a Japanese friend of mine (Hideaki Okamura aka Otoosan) reserved a room for us. After we unloaded our backpacks we set out looking for some food and Nagasaki nightlife.
According to JT's Japan guide the place to go for nightlife was in the Hamao-Machi District. We got there and noticed that everything closed at 8. Luckily we were right next to Chinatown where we found a great restaurant for dinner. With the help of the waitress and fellow customers in the restaurant, they pointed us in the direction where we could enjoy Nagasaki nightlife. Karaoke! We were treated like rock stars in this hole in wall club. You could never find this place without the map they drew out for us. It was great...JT sang the Beatles while I rocked it on the drums. The owner of the club, Lora, wanted us to keep singing and the crowd was loving it...we rocked Bon Jovi, Eagles, and some more Beatles songs...too much fun!
After that we headed back to our hotel to plan for the next day. We had to pack a lot in to make sure we saw as much as we could in this beautiful city on the ocean. To make it easier to see everything we made a huge circle all the way around Nagasaki, starting at the Atomic Bomb Hypocenter.
We first visited the Site of the Martyrdom of the 26 Saints of Japan (6 European missionaries and 20 Japanese Christians were crucified here in 1597 and canonized by the Pope in 1862). On the way to Peace Park we found the Second Torii Arch at Shanno Shinto Shrine. This is a one legged Torii that was damaged by the bomb. When then headed to the Atomic Bomb museum (very emotional). After spending some time in the museum seeing all the pictures and burnt artifacts we headed to Peace Park - the Atomic Bomb Hypocenter. This was the exact spot the bomb exploded August 9, 1945 at 11:02 am. A beautiful park to remember the 145,000+ either killed or hurt by the bomb.
After paying our respects we continued our journey and went for lunch. Nagasaki is very mountainous, and going up and down these hills all day we needed some carbs so we grabbed lunch at this great Italian place on our way to the Hollander Slope. And just as the name says, it is a shaded flagstone incline surrounded by Dutch style homes. After that we checked out the Confucian Temple...Confucius say - not cheap ;) but well worth the visit to this historic Temple. After visiting Confucius, we headed up to the top of Glover Park (luckily there was an elevator!). From the top of the Park we could see all of Nagasaki sitting on the edge of the ocean. Beautiful view!
Our last stop was the Spectacles Bridge where we snapped some pics and headed for a youth hostel where we were staying that night. After washing up, we headed out for dinner and were declined at 3 different Japanese restaurants and decided to head back to Chinatown where we were more welcomed. We enjoyed the Karaoke Club so much the night before we went back that night and enjoyed more singing...as soon as we walked in they were excited we came back. Rockstars in Japan!
The next morning we wanted to check out an Onsen (hot spring), but when we got there we were turned away because as it turns out, I am Japanese mafia. I have tattoos and in Japan people with tattoos are considered part of the Japanese Mafia...go figure. So instead of the hot springs we found a massage place in the mall and got our muscles relaxed after the long exploration of Nagasaki from the day before. Afterward we headed to a sushi bar for some lunch and then it was time to head back home to Otsu. JT and I had a great time in Nagasaki. It is a beautiful city full of history and spectacular sites.
The Rockstars: