Golden Week - Day Two - Nagasaki

I woke up fairly early, walked the 2km to Hakata station, and got on a bus bound for Nagasaki. it was only a two hour ride, and it was pretty comfortable. I don't mind traveling by bus, because it's cheaper, and when it's a short dive it's nothing bad.

Good morning, Nagasaki station!

Giant inflatable golden dragon

Bridge in front of my hostel, AKARI Nagasaki International Hostel. It was so nice! There were a lot of foreigners there, and I made a few friends.

Panda says look both ways.

This looks like a New York City avenue to me.


First things first - Lunch! Nagasaki Champon, a local specialty. It's thick udon noodles in a rich, pork broth with a whole lot of random toppings. I swear there were things in there I couldn't identify. I ate them though, it was delicious, and just pretended it was chicken.

Nagasaki City Tram

The drivers say "Hasashi masu" which I thought meant "Here we go, you better hang on for dear life" but apparently it just means "Moving".

I walked up a hill to Glover House, and this is the map view of Nagasaki from the first balcony.

And the actual view.

View from the top. I didn't go in, because it was ¥500 and meh, I've seen gardens before.

Oura Church, Japan's oldest Gothic-style church.

This street was lined with vendors. I stopped to buy a few keychains for friends, and the salesman though I was French. He was almost as surprised to learn I was American as I was to hear he thought I was French.

Hypocenter of the A-Bomb.

Hypocenter Park statue.

Urakami Tenshu-Do ruins

Peace Park fountain

The Peace Statue was constructed in 1955. The right hand, pointing skyward, warns about the threat of the atomic bomb. The left hand, stretching out horizontally, symbolizes world peace. The closed eyes represent a prayer for the repose of the souls of all the atomic bomb victims.

After Peace Park, I was thoroughly exhausted, so I went back to the hostel. One of the British girls staying there, Juliet aka Jules, was kind enough to go find a kaiten-zushi (roto sushi) shop with me, even though she wasn't hungry. Over sushi, I found out she has been traveling for 9 months, through China, India, and Thailand. She's a physiologist (British for physical therapist). I didn't ask how she affords it because that's rude, but we did exchange information so I'll eventually see what the deal is haha. While at the sushi shop, the waiters were flirting with Jules, and one even winked at us. It was quite cute, and very un-Japanese.