Nagasaki, Japan

            On 11 Oct 2013, we didn’t need to meet for our excursion until 12:40 PM; however, our morning was not as leisurely as it was yesterday.  Japan required us to go ashore and process though their immigration procedures before 10:00 AM, or else we would not be allowed to go ashore.  Since we had done this previously in Muroran, Japan, we thought we might be exempt from the process this time, but we were not.  So after breakfast, we went ashore and processed through Japanese immigration (including fingerprinting).  Although up to now since 21 September, we have seen no rain when we’ve been off the ship, during this short walk from the base of the ship to the immigration building, it was gushing rain, like being under a waterfall.  Princess employees were busy handing umbrellas to people and then collecting them again.  By 9:30 AM we were back in our cabin, where Jesse resumed watching the Government shutdown saga on television, and Sally resumed her napping.

At 1:00 PM when we boarded our tour bus for Nagasaki, the weather had changed from wet to hot and very humid.  Because our tour guide’s name would have been so difficult for us to pronounce, she suggested that we call her “Soda” (which was part of her name).  She is 68 years old, was born in and grew up in Nagasaki.  Since Soda was 5 years old when the bomb fell, she knew many stories about people who lived in Nagasaki at that time.  Retired after 40 years of teaching middle grade students, she has been a tour guide for about one year.

Atomic Bomb Museum

Our first stop was the Atomic Bomb Museum, which includes photographs taken immediately after the atomic blast in World War II, video displays, and artifacts that survived the explosion.  A monument near the museum marks Ground Zero, the center of the blast; and a black square stone column marks the exact point where the bomb exploded.
 

Statue of Peace

Our next stop was the Peace Memorial Park.  When the atomic bomb was dropped on the city, an estimated 75,000 people perished.  The park was created to represent the vow that such a tragedy would not happen again and offers hope for world peace.  A Nagasaki native created the 30-foot “Statue of Peace” that is the focal point of the park, but numerous other countries have donated monuments for the park.  From the USA is a monument from Nagasaki’s sister city, St. Paul, MN.  (St. Paul was also Japan’s first sister city.)

Next, our drive continued past the Urakami Catholic Church.  The original structure was built in 1879 after a long ban on Christianity was lifted; however, it was near Ground Zero and was destroyed.  In fact, at the time of the bombing, the priest was with parish members, and all were incinerated in the blast with only a couple of rosaries remaining intact.  In 1959, a new building was built on the original site of the church and, remodeled in 1980, it stands as a symbol of persecution.  We also drove past the ancient, stone Toril Gate, which stands on only one pillar since the other was blown away by the atomic blast.  The gate has been preserved in its post-explosion state as a reminder of the destructive force of the bomb.

About an hour after our return to the ship, Japanese Taiko drummers performed on the pier for our ship’s passengers, followed by a high school brass band and a girls’ group dancing with pom-poms until the ship pushed off – about 45 minutes total.  Although we had seen the banner on the pier “Welcome Back Diamond Princess,” we didn’t fully understand its meaning until we were informed that the ship was actually built in Nagasaki.  After dinner, there were three locations scheduled for dancing; however, the dance floor was much too crowded in the Explorer’s Lounge, the Club Fusion was completely empty except for the bartender (the DJ wasn’t even there), and the Electrix Duo was “performing” in the Wheelhouse Bar (not really playing dance music).  So, we danced to one song in the Wheelhouse Bar and returned to our cabin for the night. 

            By the way, you might have noticed that we are posting this entry a day late.  Japanese broadcast regulations forbid the use of C-band frequencies inside Japanese territorial waters; therefore, the ship was required to switch off its internet services for 23 hours while we were in Japanese waters.  We had the same situation when we visited Muroran, Japan, two weeks ago.