It's crazy. I have never become so fond of a city so quickly as I have Nagasaki. My short stay of three nights went by incredibly quickly, and with each second of those 72 hours, my love for the city doubled. I'm not really sure why, Nagasaki was such a beautiful place, and such a lovely port that my mind just decided, "I could buy a house here and I know I'd have a smile on my face until my presence on this earth was gone". Maybe you could read this following post and come to a better conclusion than I can. But in short, Nagasaki was a brilliant and unique city that will forever have my attention.
Nagasaki, where to begin? I guess I could start by saying that the identity of Nagasaki is such a mess that, that itself is its identity. This is because of Nagasaki's intimate, historic relationship with other countries. Nagasaki was the first city to have trading connections with the likes of Portugal, Holland and China. Therefore, a lot of foreign settelement occurred in Nagasaki and houses and manors were built representing different nations architecture. This first became apparent to us as we entered Glover Garden on our first day in Nagasaki.
Glover Garden is a hilltop museum, which shows the foreign settlement of Alexander Blake Glover. A Scotsman that single handedly revolutionized the Japanese trading industry. He had major inclusion in Mitsubishi and Kirin Beer Co. and was recognised by many Japanese as the Scottish Samurai. His house, that still resides in Nagasaki, is the first and oldest western building in Japan. In Glover garden we walked through many houses that belonged to famous foreign figures, such as Glover, and it was a strange experience. To witness such western objects in the far east, and to see such a western influence be accepted in Japan. It was frankly, quite brilliant. The Glover Garden was not only impressive because of it's vast western buildings and it's western history, but it also offered a beautiful panoramic view of Nagasaki, the sun above the hills, not a cloud in sight, my heart was happy for this adventure we have foregone.
After Glover Garden we headed to Hollander Slope. A slope made in the 1800's (by blasting rocks out of the side of a mountain via gunpowder). that saw more foreign settlement, mostly from Holland. A fact taught us that, in the 18th century, no matter where you came from, if you lived on that slope, you were called dutch. That made me laugh, not sure why. I guess it is just the idea that Japan excluded the foreigner so much that they were all just grouped together under the word dutch. The Slope was beautiful, and it felt like we had literally strolled straight from Japan to Holland. Glover Garden had already given us the impression of Britain and now the dutch slope of Holland. I felt like I was globe trotting, to the most literal sense. You could go in a few houses there, and the architecture screamed of Denmark, Holland, Sweden and in general, Scandinavia. I loved it.
The next day we headed to our second, and final peace park of Japan. That's right, as if the horror of Hiroshima's A-Bomb wasn't enough, war sought more destruction and dropped one on Nagasaki three days after Hiroshima. The peace park in Nagasaki has so many monuments and statues donated by other countries, but the main statue was the Peace Statue. We really did not expect it to be as huge as it was. It was a beautiful site, and yet at the same time so sad. That statue really should not exist, because man kind should know that killing that many people with one weapon is an idiotic, pathetic and unforgivable mistake. I never really thought too much about war until I came to Japan. Obviously I knew the basics, that war killed thousands of people, but I guess it was put into perspective, and it flicked a switch in my mind. World Peace is something that needs to happen. But realistically, maybe it is just a pipe dream. Too many men yearn for power, and eventually I think that will be our downfall.
After the Peace Park we headed to a temple. We thought "we haven't done one in a while, why the hell not! Ikimashou (let's go)". It was really good actually. The temple was unique because it was erected by Chinese settlers and therefore the oldest Chinese temple in Japan. It was a bright, vibrant red and stood atop a hill. It looked like something out of a story book and was a beautiful sight to behold, inside and out.
That night we headed to the top of Mt. Inasa, a 333 metre high mountain in Nagasaki, boasting on the three best night views of Japan. It wasn't lying, I guess I can't compare as it is the only night view we have done but it was incredible. To be so high up and see a city shaped by the street lights and neon signs was amazing. It was fitting that a city so beautiful in the daylight should be even more so at night. Forgive my romantic views but being up there with a woman I love so much made me stop to think about how lucky I was, it was beautiful Not only because of the city, but because of her also. I guess without her I would not have survived Japan.
We took the cable car down the mountain, after being warned the hiking trail is littered with wild boar, and descended the mountain. It was our last activity in Nagasaki and I really did not want the night to end. We grabbed a few cans, sat on the pier and simply looked at the night sky. A perfect time in Nagasaki, nothing could have improved and I know I will be going back there again sometime.
Thanks for reading.
Arigatou, Sayonara
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