Nagasaki

Last weekend I went to Nagasaki to meet up with some friends and fellow JETs who live in Miyazaki, in southern Kyushu (Kyushu is the southernmost of Japan's four main islands). Nagasaki is about five hours from Yamasaki by train (closer to six hours when you factor in the hour long bus ride to Himeji, where the train station is). I wasn't at all sure what to expect, but Nagasaki turned out to be a lovely city. Not quite as nice as Hiroshima, it still bore no traces of having been the victim of an atomic bombing (except for the various monuments etc.). 

We couldn't find a place to stay before we got there. Apparently, as we learned later, the Pope was in town that weekend (Nagasaki is the Christian capital of Japan). So we ended up staying in a love hotel, which is exactly what it sounds like. It's almost like a normal hotel, except it's designed with a specific purpose in mind. That aside, it's a nice alternative for stranded tourists. It was almost as cheap as a hostel, but much, much nicer. 

We mostly hung out around the city, went out for drinks and karaoke at night, rode a ferris wheel on the roof of a department store (awesome views of the city and the full moon). We went to ground zero, where there's a small park and monument, and some chains of paper cranes. We had dinner as a really good Indian restaurant. 

Monday morning (it was a 3 day weekend) I wandered around by myself a bit, saw the cathedral and the famous megane-bashi (spectacles bridge), before having to rush to catch my train back to Himeji. I got home around 9 pm. It was a good trip.

Pictures