Reminder of a tragedy
Nagasaki was the second city where the atomic bomb was dropped on that ended the second world war in 1945 which we visited in early May 2019. There are many reminders of that fateful event in the present city which I will return to later. Firstly, our visit to Tenjin, Canal City in Fukuoka, Japan.
Tenjin and Canal City, Fukuoka
May is a good time to visit Japan when the spring weather is cool and pleasant but April is the best when the sakura trees are in full bloom. We arrived at Fukuoka – Kuko International Airport early in the morning on May 10. It took six hours for us to fly in from Kuala Lumpur to Japan, with my two siblings and their wives plus two friends.
Though tired from the long trip, we went and visit the places of interest in Tenjin which is considered the central business district (CBD) of Fukuoka before checking into our hotel after 3pm. Fukuoka is actually a big city of more than 1.5 million people but in Japan’s standard, it is a rather small city. After some rest, we went out again to visit Canal City which is more like a suburb with its own attractions. We had our dinner of Ramen and strolled around the neighbourhood before returning to hotel just after 9pm.
Fukuoka Tower and Hakata City, Fukuoka
The next day we bought a Fukuoka Tourist City Pass (¥820 or RM32) and went around the city using both bus and subway. In fact, this is a very convenient way to travel around the city.
First, we went to see the Fukuoka Tower which is one of the tallest buildings in the city. However, when you have visited CN Tower in Toronto, Sears Tower in Chicago, Empire State Building in New York or many of the very tall towers in China and other places, this is not that impressive but again it towers among the buildings in Fukuoka.
We also noted that many of the tall and impressive buildings here were built in the late 1980’s which means that most of them are more than 30 years old. We must realise that the boom times in Japan was before the 1990’s. Since the 1990’s to now, there are hardly any new buildings being built. We also must appreciate the fact that their building structures are both hardy and very well built to withstand frequent earthquakes and other natural calamities.
Nagasaki
It took us about two hours by bus from Fukuoka to Nagasaki, the city of the second atomic bomb. It was a smooth ride with excellent roads and very professional driver. Lucky for us, our hotel (APA Hotel) was not far from where the bus stopped. As it was before 3pm, we could not check in, so we went for lunch at the nearby Bento Shop.
After a quick clean up we quickly went out to explore the attractions of the city. The Nagasaki Peace Park and Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum quickly came to our mind. But before we went there, we were presently surprised to learn that there is a Chinatown right in the centre of the city and nearby the Hamano Machi shopping arcade that really caught our attention. It was a huge arcade with lots of shops. We spent the whole afternoon at Hamano Machi.
Nagasaki is one of the earliest cities that opened to western trade. In the 1600’s, European started to establish a stronghold here. One well known personality was Thomas B. Glover who was a great contributor to the modernisation of Japan. In 1890, cruise ships started plying to Nagasaki and today, there is a huge cruise ship terminal here. Lots of tourists come to Japan via cruise lines. I would like to add that the weather is very pleasant for walking (below 25 deg celcius) these few days. As summer is getting closer, you can expect the temperature to get higher.
Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum
After dropping the first atomic bomb in Hiroshima, the Americans dropped the 2nd Atomic Bomb in Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. The damage to the people was severe; of the 240,000 people in Nagasaki, one third died instantly, another one third were severely burnt or paralysed, and the rest saved. We visited the Atomic Bomb Hypocentre and the Atomic Bomb Museum. The narrative at the museum is very clear and chilling plus it serves as a reminder on the evil of the atomic bomb. The huge Peace Statue and its significance cannot be over emphasised.
We went back to Fukuoka the next day. Nagasaki was one of our bucket lists that we always wanted to visit and thanks to AirAsia, the flight to Fukuoka, Kyushu Island was made it possible.
We took an early subway ride to Fukuoka-Kuko International Airport to catch the flight back to Kuala Lumpur. That ended our eight days-seven nights self-discovery tour of beautiful Kyushu Island.
