Nagasaki & Kumamoto -- Kyushu Road Trip Part I

Over Obon week our family decided to take a road trip down to Kyushu. Japan is separated into four different islands –– Kyushu, Honshu, Shikoku and Hokkaido. Kyushu is the most southern and second smallest of the four island. We only had four days, so our plan was to hit the Northern part of the island, with stops in Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Mt Aso and Oita. Most people take an overnight ferry (with their car) but we wanted to see the scenery and opted to drive. The 10 hour drive was pretty simple and to our surprise we did not hit much traffic.

Our first stop was Nagasaki, the city which was destroyed by the second atomic bomb on August 9, 1945. Two summers ago we had gone to Hiroshima, so it was interesting to compare the two cities. It still amazes me after seeing the destruction and damage caused by the bombs, how both cities have rebuilt and have no real lasting visual effects.

Our first day in Nagasaki was spent exploring the city, Peace Park, the bombing site and the Atomic Bombing museum.

Bombing Memorial - We had just been there after the anniversary so there were many items of remembrance there.

Matt and I at Peace Park

Part of a church building that withstood the bomb

The kids and I in front of another memorial

The second day we stopped at the 26 Martyr Museum and Monument before heading for Kumamoto. This museum is in honor of 26 missionaries who were arrested in 1597 for being Christians and made to walk from Kyoto (near where I live) to Nagasaki, where on February 5, 1597, they were hung. The museum was full of actual artifacts (sorry no pictures inside were allowed) from not just these 26 missionaries, but from the history of Christianity in Japan.

The outside of the church was beautiful. The art was made from broken dishes and pottery.

Memorials of the missionaries. The youngest one was 12 years old.

After the museum we started our drive to Kumamoto. It was supposed to take about 3 hours via the expressway, but we decided to try and drive through the "country" so it took more like 4.5. With some of the scenery, it was more than worth the extra time.

View from a dam overlooking the rice fields.

Small little town along the way offering canal rides

Surprisingly, Kumamoto itself was a much more modern and busy city than Nagasaki. The main attraction was the Kumamoto Castle, one of Japan's three premier castles. Some of the outside of the castle was original, dating back to 1467, but the inside had all been redone due to fire. They did a good job at trying to represent what the castle would have looked like inside.

Tatami rooms. The farther down the room the higher your rank would be

You can see just how big the surrounding castle walls were compared to Sami.

View from the top of the castle

Matt & kids at the secondary castle

Chris trying to scale the castle walls

Afterwards we walked around the city and went into little shops. The kids love trying to figure out what the items being sold actually are, especially the food.

It was a great first two days. Even though I have lived here for almost three years, I still find myself falling in love with this country more and more.

Next up -- Mt. Aso, Oita, Beppu -- Kyushu Part II.

Hiroshima Japan

The second day of our weekend road trip we spent touring Hiroshima, stopping at the Peace Park Memorial Park, A-Dome, Peace Park Museum, Hiroshima Castle and finally the Sukkein Garden.

At 8:15 am on August 6, 1945 the United Stated dropped the A-Bomb on Hiroshima Japan. This was the first time a nuclear bomb was ever used as warfare. I am not even sure I have words to describe what we saw while visiting Hiroshima. It is something that you have to just see for yourself and then you will see why we just wanted to pull our kids close and shelter them from the world, even for a few minutes. Pictures do not even come close to doing it justice.

Peace Park was easily within walking distance from our hotel so we walked through the city catching some of the sites along the way. Throughout the park you will see many "peace" leis hanging on different statues, memorials and other areas.
We first went to the Peace Park Museum. Inside this museum are hundreds of photographs of Hiroshima before and after the A-Bomb was dropped. There are also many lessons in the history of Hiroshima, nuclear weapons and Japans stance on hoping for a nuclear free, peaceful world. There are pictures, videos, testimonial talks and artifacts of various people who's lives were taken from the A-Bomb and even some survivors. The stories of parents searching the city for days to find their child, only to find them dead on the ground or hunched over what once was preschool furniture, were heart wrenching. Photos of the effects from radiation exposure and the people injured and many dying within a few short days made you want to close your eyes from the emotion you can't help but feel. Not including people who have died over the years from cancers or other side effects from radiation exposure, over 140,000 people died right after the A-Bomb was dropped.

I only took one picture inside the museum. To take more I felt would have been too imposing.

After the museum we walked around the park making our way to the A-Dome.

Flame of Peace
Cenotaph for the A-bomb victims
The A-Dome is the only still standing building after the A-bomb dropped. There were three total, this is the only one that remains.
Originally scientists said that it would take 75 years for anything to grow in the A-bomb areas due to radiation. As you can see from the pictures, they were incorrect. In fact all around Hiroshima you will find several trees marked as "survivors" from the A-Bomb.
Many people have asked us where all we want to visit within Japan while living here. I always told them Hiroshima because it has such a historical significance. Several people told us that it is just a big concrete city and not much to see. While on the surface I can see that, but if you look beyond the "new" buildings and think about what Hiroshima was like just 60 years ago, and picture the stories of the people there during that horrific time, you will see it is much more than just a "big concrete city".

For comparison purposes, here is a shot of Hiroshima, near the A-Dome, almost a month after the bombing. You tell me that there isn't anything to see here.
After Peace Park we drove over to Hiroshima Castle. The original castle was destroyed in the bombing, however they have rebuilt a replica and you can walk the grounds and visit the shrine on site.
After Hiroshima Castle we still had the Sukkein Garden on our to-do list, however Sami was ready to call it a day so Chris and I decided to walk there while Matt took the girls to the car. Of course Chris and I got lost trying to find our way, so luckily we found these lovely tour guides who walked us right to the front gates.
Sukkein Garden was a beautiful place, full of Japanese gardens and small tree lined paths. As everything else, it was totally destroyed in the bombing and has been rebuilt.



It was an interesting contrast having just been to Pearl Harbor three weeks ago and seeing where the Japan/US war really began and then going to Hiroshima and seeing how the war ended. Such a tragic time in history.

You can see many more pictures of Hiroshima here.