Day 7 - Tuesday, June 28th

Today we left Tokyo. We took the train to the airport about 30minutes from our hotel. Then we had to go up several levels to the terminal. At the airport on the domestic side we had to get our bags checked at one spot and they had to be 20kg. Also the boarding passes you had to get at a different spot. Learning this new system of travel was frustrating. Going through security was not that bad they also had a liquid checker for water or pop stuff in a plastic bottle. In the airport they had fancy toilets as in Japan they have toilets that spray and do other interesting stuff. The airport was nice and clean. They have a ticket wicket that scans the boarding pass as you enter the gate. The airplane however was old fashioned. When we arrived in Nagasaki we got off on an airport bus. The airport is quite small much like the size of Hamilton airport. We then got off and took an airport bus to the bus station then we took a tram to near our Hostel and walked the rest of the way there. The tram lines remind me of Fort Edmonton Park and taking the streetcar around.  Nagasaki has a strong Christian presence as even at the airport there are nuns in habits walking around. Also Nagasaki has these old bridges that are used to cross the river. They look like they are from the Edo era. The Hostel called the Akari Hostel with a lounge, shared kitchen, private rooms with a bath in one room, a toilet in another a bunk bed, single bed, AC, and a sink in the main room. The staff there are very friendly and speak good English.  There are many good resources there about the Nagasaki region. Then we went to the Nagasaki Museum. It is small but has a lot of information about Nagasaki and a few artifacts. It also has interactive displays and some English written. So you can reserve tours for it in English. On the other side is the Magistrates office Museum.  There are a few convenient stores and restaurants in that area.

Day 8 - Wednesday, June 29th

Today I went to Dejima Fort in the morning however it was raining today and cold.  They had people dressed there in traditional Samurai dress . There were several old warehouses. The masters house was nice and big in Western style with a big dining room and tatami mats. When entering buildings with Tatami matts one must take off one's shoes and place them in a shoe rack in a shoe closet or carry them in a plastic bag if they think they will get stolen. At the museum they had interactive displays and they also had an archeology place with ceramic artifacts. There were traditional Japanese living quarters and models of boats and buildings. There also was a garden and a western style house with a room for playing games like tennis, a modern restaurant with fireplaces in the house.  There was a Christian college at Dejima Fort but it is not there anymore. Then we went to the 26 Saint Memorial Museum. It was interesting as it had the history of the persecution of the Christians in Japan, information about who the martyrs were.  There was a documentary about the Coptic Christians and they explained how the Christians in Japan went underground. They also have a lot of relics. Then we went to the Atomic Bomb Museum and it made what happened seem so real. The museum itself was informative about WWII, the making of the Atomic Bomb, the dropping of the bomb and its effect on people, they have lots of artifacts diagrams and eyewitness accounts. In the museum they stress the effects of nuclear warfare and how Nagasaki should be the last place that nuclear warfare is used and it also talks about nuclear warfare today and during the cold war. Then we went to the Uramaki Church. It was nice and quiet but no pictures and it was neat to see a building that was destroyed by the bomb but was rebuilt. Then we went to the Hermitage of a doctor. It showed his life and how he helped the people of Nagasaki after the bomb. It was very inspiring. We went to Chinatown for dinner. It was a small Chinatown but the food was good. For dinner I tried Champon and Sakuradon two local Nagasaki noodle dishes the Sakuradon was fried noodles and the Champon was a noodle soup.