Steve and Cathy's Blog

As we pretty much anticipated because of yesterday’s sea state, we are not in port at the scheduled 8:00am.  By 8:30, however, we are passing by the large Mitsubishi Heavy Industries shipyard that occupies four miles of shoreline.  There are two large Liquid Natural Gas tankers under construction, and we see a Japanese Navy destroyer that was built there as well.  The sun is shining and the temperature is a perfect 70 degrees. We are at the dock shortly after 9:00am. Due to the delay, our 9:15am excursion, Highlights of Nagasaki, has been pushed back until 9:45.

And we still have a mandatory face-to-face inspection for Health, Immigration and Customs.  We are warned that this could take up to three hours to process every passenger.  We are concerned.

We needn’t be.  We are in Japan.  The ship is cleared virtually instantaneously by the authorities.  The face-to-face inspection, which is to take place in the cruise terminal, starts immediately for all of us going on tours. Of course the entire passenger complement is going ashore, so there is a big jam-up in the ship itself, but then it begins to move, and move steadily.

We are ushered into the hall in the cruise terminal.  The Oceania Purser applies a special sticker to our passport copy.  We walk through a Quarantine thermal camera that takes our body temperature (we are moving so quickly through this process that we don’t even notice where that camera is until we are past it).  The first Immigration official greets us politely, says welcome and then sends us to an available immigration inspector.  He/she looks at our paperwork (smiling!) and asks: “Please put your fingers here” for the fingerprint scan.  She says “Thank you” and we are done.  We turn in a customs declaration on our way out.  This maybetook fifteen minutes.

Did you notice these words “please” and “thank you” that were uttered by every single Japanese Immigration and Customs official?  Did you note that the entireprocesstook fifteen minutes?  This, friends, is our welcome to Japan, and we are stunned and ecstatic.  We walk outside to the waiting buses with their smiling guides and welcoming bus drivers.

Our guide’s name is Chizuko, and as we pull out of the port, she briefs us on her city (This lovely gentle woman is pictured at the beginning of this post).  With a population of 430,000, the city’s economy is based on shipbuilding, fishing and tourism.  Because of its location on the island of Kyushu, which is at the southwestern end of the country, the city has been influenced by foreign trade and foreigners for centuries, more so than any other city in Japan.  It was one of Japan’s most important ports from the 17^ththrough he 19^thcentury, with especially active relations with, first, the Portuguese and, then, the Dutch.  There are also to this day a substantial number of Christians as a result of this contact with the outside world.

As everyone knows, Nagasaki was the target of the second nuclear bomb, dropped on August 9, 1945. It was chosen as a target (a secondary target, Kokura being the primary which was cloud-covered that day) because of its armaments manufacturing, especially the Mitsubishi shipyard.  More on all of that as we describe our day.

We will make four stops on our tour: the Atomic Bomb Museum, the Peace Park, the Hypocenter Park and the Dejima Island.  The first three sites are totally related to the detonation of the atomic bomb at 11:02am on August 9,1945.  Dejima Island is related to the history of the city during the 1600s through the 1800s.

Since the day Cathy and I saw the itinerary for the Around the World voyage and that it included both Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we weren’t quite sure what we would be shown, how it would be presented or what our reaction would be to it all.  World War II was an historic event of gigantic proportions, and defined America’s role in the world for all of our generation. Each of us had read much history, seen many movies, and heard much discussion about it and, especially, the defining moment when the war was ended.

With all that as background, neither of us was about to allow ourselves to be subjected to two days of revisionist history or attempts to portray Japan as the unwitting victim of a nuclear holocaust.  When we boarded the bus an hour ago, we had our antennae up anticipating both.

Within five minutes of having arrived at the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum,the concerns that we had harbored have evaporated.  We enter the first exhibition hall through a long spiral ramp that had specific years shown on the wall, the last one being 1945.  This exhibition hall is dimly lit to symbolize the destruction of the city of Nagasaki.  It is a quiet, almost spiritual experience walking around it, as we read plaques describing the events and decisions leading up to the dropping of the bomb, see photographs of the destruction, and even a full size model of the bomb itself and how it was constructed.  Not one of us say anything; we are all left with our own thoughts as the impact of the exhibit sank in.  The theme – the only theme – is what we see written on the wall as we entered: “Nagasaki must be the last place exposed to an atomic bomb.”

It is evident as we walk around that the United States and its military had requested and had accepted the offer to make significant contributions to how this story was being told. It included much history on the chain of decisions that led up to the detonation, many photographs of the actual loading of the bomb into the B-29 named Bockscar, notes about the flight itself, as well as the aforementioned model of the bomb.

The universality of the message of the horrors of nuclear weapons and the plea that human beings never again be exposed to their affects were very effectively and very sensitively conveyed by the curators of this museum.  It was as apolitical an exhibit as we could have possibly hoped for, and its appeal for sanity should reach every sentient being that sees it.   In fact, Cathy spoke volumes as she turned to one of our shipmates upon leaving and said: “There should be one of these museums in every major city in the world.”

Upon leaving the Atomic Bomb Museum, we take a ten-minute walk to the Nagasaki Peace Park.  After climbing a series of stairways, which are bordered with beautiful flowerbeds, to reach the entrance to the park, we come upon the Peace Fountain. This was constructed in August 1969, as a prayer for the repose of the souls of the many atomic bomb victims who died searching for water, and as a dedication to world peace. Lines from a poem by a girl named Sachiko Yamaguchi, who was nine at the time of the bombing, are carved on a black stone plaque in front of the fountain. It reads: “I was thirsty beyond endurance. There was something oily on the surface of the water, but I wanted water so badly that I drank it just as it was.”

After viewing the fountain, we enter the Peace Symbols Zone.  This area was established by the City of Nagasaki in 1978, and they invited countries from around the world to contribute monuments to world peace.  More than fifteen monuments have been erected.

At one of them stands a gentleman named Inosuke Hayasaki who is a survivor of the blast.  He is there with cards to give out about his story, and represents the Nagasaki Foundation for the Promotion of Peace.  There are glasses of water and some flowers on the monument.  He invites people to take his picture or stand with him as their picture is taken with him.  He looks to be in awfully good shape for someone who had to be nearing one hundred years old, but hey, the Japanese people are among the healthiest in the world, so who am I to question it.  At any rate, to be in that place and make contact with a native of Nagasaki is a very special moment in this day.

“At the park’s north end is the 10-meter-tall Peace Statue created by sculptor Seibo Kitamura of Nagasaki Prefecture. The statue’s right hand points to the threat of nuclear weapons while the extended left hand symbolizes eternal peace. The mild face symbolizes divine grace and the gently closed eyes offer a prayer for the repose of the bomb victims’ souls. The folded right leg and extended left leg signify both meditation and the initiative to stand up and rescue the people of the world. The statue represents a mixture of western and eastern art, religion, and ideology. Installed in front of the statue is a black marble vault containing the names of the atomic bomb victims and survivors who died in subsequent years.”  (Wikipedia)

The Hypocenter Park is our third stop. This small park with its black monolith marks the exact location where the blast took place 1,600 feet above where we stood.  A plaque near the monolith reads: “At 11:02 A.M., August 9, 1945 an atomic bomb exploded 500 meters above this spot. The black stone monolith marks the hypocenter.

“The fierce blast wind, heat rays reaching several thousand degrees and deadly radiation generated by the explosion crushed, burned, and killed everything in sight and reduced this entire area to a barren field of rubble.  About one-third of Nagasaki City was destroyed and 150,000 people killed or injured and it was said at the time that this area would be devoid of vegetation for 75 years. Now, the hypocenter remains as an international peace park and a symbol of the aspiration for world harmony.”

This has been a very sobering two and a half hours that left everyone somewhat contemplative.  Chizuko continues to give us information on the subject of the atomic bomb blast. 74,000 people were killed, and an equal number were injured.  Many more died subsequently from radiation poisoning.  The casualties would have been much higher had it not been from the topography of Nagasaki.  The city is surrounded by hills and mountains, and that kept the blast contained. Nonetheless, within one kilometer of the blast, over 80% died and the heat from the blast was 3-4,000 degrees Fahrenheit.  As we head for our last stop, she points to a Shinto Torii gate, part of which had survived. It has been left as a reminder of the destruction.

Well, it is time for a change, so our last stop was Dejima Island.  As mentioned above, Nagasaki’s location lent itself to contact with European traders and explorers.  The first to arrive were Portuguese, and there was a period where they were somewhat accepted.  However, after Christianity began to spread due to the efforts of Portuguese missionaries, this artificial island was built to contain where they lived and stop this scourge.  In 1639, the Portuguese were finally expelled.

The Dutch East India Company had established itself in Hirado in 1609.  They could care less about religion.  They wanted to develop the lucrative trade opportunities, and had been doing so in Hirado. However, once the Portuguese were kicked out, and the trade with Portuguese ships from Macau disappeared, the economy of Dejima Island and the port of Nagasaki sank.  So the Dutch were forced by government officials to move from Hirado to Dejima. From 1641 on, only Chinese and Dutch ships were allowed to come to Japan, and Nagasaki harbor was the only harbor they were allowed to enter.

This trade went on – at various levels, depending on international politics – for another two hundred years, until 1858. “The Dutch East India Company’s trading post at Dejima was abolished when Japan concluded the Treaty of Kanagawawith the USA in 1858. This ended Dejima’s role as Japan’s only window on the Western world during the era of national isolation. Since then, the island was expanded by reclaimed landand merged into Nagasaki. Extensive redesigning of Nagasaki Harbor in 1904 obscured its original location.

“Dejima today is a work in progress. The island was designated a national historical site in 1922, but further steps were slow to follow. Restoration work was started in 1953, but that project languished.In 1996, restoration of Dejima began with plans for reconstructing 25 buildings in their early 19th-century state. To better display Dejima’s fan-shaped form, the project anticipated rebuilding only parts of the surrounding embankment wall that had once enclosed the island. Buildings that remained from the Meiji periodwere to be used.

“In 2000, five buildings including the Deputy Factor’s Quarters were completed and opened to the public. In the spring of 2006, the finishing touches were put on the Chief Factor’s Residence, the Japanese Officials’ Office, the Head Clerk’s Quarters, the No. 3 Warehouse, and the Sea Gate. Currently some 10 buildings throughout the area have been restored.

“In 2017, six new buildings as well as the ‘Omotemon-bashi Bridge’ (the old bridge to the mainland) were restored. The bridge was officially opened in attendance of members of the Japanese and Dutch royal families.” (more Wikipedia quotes, of course)

We spend about an hour there wandering around what we described as “Nagasaki’s Sturbridge Village.”  Not only the buildings themselves, but a very well constructed model of the complex.  It is a fascinating look at Japan’s interesting contact with the western world during a very long enforced period of isolation.  It’s in such contrast with modern Japan’s global reach.

We head back to the ship around 2:00pm as the ship is due to sail at 3:00pm.  Much to our surprise and delight, on the dock is a high school band and about thirty young cheerleaders and dancers.  The band plays and the girls perform their review for us.  It is a sendoff from the people of Nagasaki, and we are touched and thrilled by it.

Now you begin to see how our opinion of Japan is being formed.  In China, we were treated as spies and interlopers.  In Japan, we are treated as wanted guests and friends.  In China, we are questioned.  In Japan, we are welcomed.

Indeed, the ship sets sail at the scheduled 3:00pm to the sound of high school band music.  It has been a very impactful day on several levels.  We cruise out of the harbor into the inland sea, past even more of the Mitsubishi shipyard.

Tonight we have a special dinner opportunity.  At 7:00pm, we are going to have dinner with the Around The World Concierge Ricardo Gomez, a native of Mexico City now living with his wife in the Cancun area.  Ricardo is the Mr. Fixit and Head Cat Herder on Insignia.  He takes care of the hundreds of details that might trip up those of us who are on the ship for six months, mainly in the areas of immigration paperwork, inoculation certifications, and other minutiae about which many of us are unfamiliar.  We have seen him untangle the most bizarre of problems presented to him for help by guests. He is unflappable and resourceful.

But before that, we meet with Brian O’Dell and his cigar-smoking cadres in the smoking area of Deck 9 at 4:30pm.  Cathy and I want to drink the bottle of bubbly that was left in our stateroom at the beginning of this segment.  It is a fun time, and includes Paul from Vancouver, a regular at this daily afternoon ritual of Brian’s.  Turns out he and his wife Sherry are also going to be at the table with us tonight, which guarantees a good time.

Cathy and Steve are right on time at the entrance to the Grand Dining Room where we meet our dinner companions.  The dinner is everything we expected.  We close the place.

Today has been one of those we will never forget, a watershed where we learn more about our world and its history in one day than from an entire month in a class.  We suspect that tomorrow will be a continuation of that education in the city of Hiroshima.