#gunkanjima

I really don’t like to brag about it, but I’ve seen an awful lot of Japan. However, there are still big empty spots on the map and I will try to fill them one by one. Kyûshû was one of them. I’ve been to Fukuoka and surroundings because a friend studied at Kyûshû university, but that’s about it. Despite those empty spots, is pretty unusual that a city completely catches me by surprise. Nagasaki is such a place. As for me, I would call it Japans most beautiful major city. Surrounded by mountains and opening up to a long bay, the natural environment is astonishing. With it’s 433.000 inhabitants it is big enough to offer everything you need, but it is certainly small enough to prevent the hustle and bustle of about every city the shinkansen-kraken reached by now. While Kagoshima for example is now part of the bullet train network. Nagasaki still needs a transfer at Fukuoka to a local line.

However, it is worth the trip. There is just so much to see and do there. You can get involved with the history of Christians in Japan, visiting a ton of churches, among them Ôura Church 大浦天主堂, as far as i know the only western-style building that is designated a national treasure.

Or you can visit Dejima 出島, the former Dutch trading post that was once an artificial island. One third of the original buildings have been rebuilt until now and they still working on rebuilding more.

Foreign influence can be traced everywhere in Nagasaki. Whether you visit Glover Garden クラバー園 with it’s old european-styled housings or just searching for a snack. The portuguese cake called castella カステラ　and Nagasakis signature food, champon ちゃんぽん, first made by chinese immigrants, are tasty references to the cosmopolitan nature of the city.

Of course in the west Nagasaki is primarily known for the dropping of the second atomic bomb. Just like Hiroshima, Nagasaki has a museum dedicated to it, a peace park and a monument to the ground zero, where groups of school children occasionally recite peace declarations. But let’s be honest: while the museum in Nagasaki is very pleasent concerning architecture and location, it does not offer all those personal stories that make the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum so unique. Hiroshima tries to touch your soul, while Nagasaki feels more like a historical approach.

And yes, there is this thing called battleship island 軍艦島.　(you may guess why by looking at the picture) The real name of this small island is Hashima 端島　and the whole thing was basically huge coal mine. During it’s active time until 1974, the island boasted the world’s highest population density and Japan’s first high-rise concrete apartement buildings. However, after the mine went out of business, people had to leave and so today it’s an uninhabited island with decaying concrete buildings.

There’s a lot more to see at Nagasaki, of course. They have Chinatown, some interesting temples, stone bridges, ropeways and more and we certainly did much more interesting stuff there, but I leave this to later entries. However, one thing is sure: I’ll definitely need to return to Nagasaki in the near future.