Kyushu Kurobuta Tonkatsu Tour

[NOAL]

     Last year's bike trip to Japan was so much fun I decided to do it again this year.  This year's destination was the Southern most island of Kyushu.  Here's a map of the route I rode. Well, there's a couple of sections where I took a train.  Who can pass up an opportunity to ride the Shinkansen bullet train, the fastest train in the world? More about that later.

I think I ended up riding in the neighborhood of 450 or so miles. 

    Just like last year I boxed up the bike in a cardboard box and hopped on a flight to Fukuoka the largest city in Kyushu.  Population is about 1.5 million. Twice the population of SF.  Before I purchased the ticket I checked the average temps for September.  Usually temps are around 80.  Considerably warmer than last year's trip to Hokkaido but the prospect of a sort of tropical trip seemed appealing.  I figured if things got hot I could just hit the beach to cool off.  Little did I know that Japan would have a heat wave the ten days that I was there and temps would be more like 97.  What can you do?

    Landed in Fukuoka early in the afternoon.  I booked a hotel a few blocks from the airport.  Turned out the hotel was a few blocks from the domestic terminal.  To get to the domestic terminal I would need to take a shuttle bus.  The line was long and people were packed on the bus.  Did I mention it was hot?  My chances of getting a large cardboard box on the shuttle bus did not look good. I decided to go ahead and put the bike together and somehow ride to the hotel with a massive bike box. 

Putting the bike together at the airport



Somehow over the course of an hour I did a combination of riding and pushing with the box on top of the bike and made it to the hotel.  Once I got there I then partially disassembled the bike and put it in the bike bag.  This trip every time I stayed in a hotel I would just put the bike in the bag like luggage. This reduced a lot of stress for the hotel desk clerks.  By the end of the trip I got pretty fast at doing it. About 20 mins or so. Every time it requires removing the handle bars, seat, front wheel and all of the bike bags.

DAY 1 FUKUOKA to SAGA 65 kilometers

Had a good nights sleep woke up around 5;30 and hit the free Japanese style breakfast at 6.  By the time I hit the road around 8 it was already getting warm.  For most of the trip it never dropped below 80 at night.  Started riding towards the mountains to the West of town.  Fukuoka is a pretty large city.  I planned on spending a couple of days there at the end of the trip.  There are quite a few canals that run through the city. 

Fukuoka in the morning


It took about 45 minutes or so to get out of the city and start the climb up the mountain.  After a 1/2 hour of so I saw this thing on the side of the road.



This trip did not disappoint in the department of wacky roadside stuff and strangely 400 something miles later I would encounter another identical statue of liberty.

    Got to the top of the mountain and somehow missed the turn that would keep me on the highway across the top of the range.  By the time I realized I missed the turn I had already descended back into flat land.  Oops.  After consulting the map I decided to do another hill climb and check out a waterfall.  It was past 10 a.m. and it was warming up.  Usually by this time of day the temp would already be about 90.  By noon it would be about 98 and would stay like that until 4 or so. According to the forecast with the humidity thrown in it would feel like 108.

   I think people in Kyushu are accustomed to warm weather but this was definitely a heat wave and most folks were staying indoors during the peak hours.  Between the hours of 12-4 I would get some strange looks especially if I was hill climbing.  Here's a funny thing that happened on the way to the waterfall.  I was riding of a bike path on the side of the road.  Totally off of the road.  There were three cars going down the mountain in the opposite direction.  All three of the drivers were rubbernecking getting a good look at the crazy Gaijin (foreigner) riding up a mountain in a heat wave.  The first driver braked hard and the other two cars rear ended the first car and each other.  I did not stop.

The waterfall was on a side road which required a lot of steep climbing for a couple of miles but at least it was in the shade.  About half way there I jumped in a creek on the side of the road.  Eventually I made it to the waterfall.


View looking back down the mountain



There were quite a few people at the waterfall.  I guess it is a place to beat the heat.  Kind of like Whitney Portal.   Just like Whitney Portal there were people fishing in the pools below the falls.  There was a little concession stand where you could buy grilled salted trout on a stick.  I got one and it was tasty!


There was also an option to rent a fishing pole catch your own fish and the guy at the grill would cook it up for you.  Very cool thing to do with little kids



And for the people looking for food options to cool down there were somen noodles that travel down water in bamboo chutes.  Each family stands around a the chute and helps themselves to the river of noodles.  Then you dip them in cold broth.  I wanted to try it but a little weird to do by yourself.



After finishing my fish and chilling in the waterfall mist it was time to hit the road.  The rest of the climb up the mountain was hot but still nice.  The road narrowed down and there was little traffic.  Seems like most people going up the mountain only go as far as the waterfall.  After about an hour of riding I reached the summit and started to descend towards the next major city Saga.  I eventually arrived at a reservoir.  Turned out that weekend was the Saga games which is kind of like Olympic style competitions for Japan.  The rowing event was being held at the reservoir.  It was now about 3 o'clock so I would need to make a decision about lodging soon.   Judging from the amount of people attending the rowing event trying to find a hotel in Saga with the games going on might not be a good prospect.  I decided to head towards another reservoir that had a campground about 20 miles away.  This required another mountain pass and it was hot.  It was so hot that this frog even wanted cold drinks.



This vending machine was in the middle of nowhere in the mountains.  I was hanging out with the frog when this old guy rode up on one of those scamp things that old folks ride in the super market.  I tried to make small talk with him in my limited Japanese but he told me he can't hear and that he was 98 years old.  He also only had 3 teeth so it was a brief conversation but we both agreed it was freakin' hot or so they say in Japanese totemo atsui!

Made it to the campground and set up camp.  The campground was part of a park below a dam.  There was a couple of guys swimming in the pools below the flood gates.  There was a sign that said if you heard an alarm or there was a rain storm to get out of the river.  The alarm went off a couple of times but the dudes swimming were not phased.  Strange.  I went for a swim and rinsed out my bike shorts and jersey. 

All of the water spigots for the park had the tap handles removed.  As if the park was closed for the season.  Luckily there was a shrine in the parking lot with a natural spring.  A gallon of water was 40yen.  There were quite a few locals showing up filling multiple gallons.  Must be where they get their drinking water.  I had neglected to stock up on food so  all I had was a box of chocolate covered almonds.  I ate them while I watched the sun set and then went to bed.



Swimming Hole

[JC w KC redux]

Loving it so far (again).
Funniest part was the old guy with almost no teeth.
Keep it comin' dude...(please).

[Brad Young]

Last year's FOOD trip to Japan was so much fun I decided to do it again this year.

I figured I'd change your opening line so that we're all on the same page from the first words.

Sasebo and Nagasaki coming up. I'm very curious of your impressions about both.

[NOAL]

Thanks JC.  I will post some more tomorrow.

I figured I'd change your opening line so that we're all on the same page from the first words.

Sasebo and Nagasaki coming up. I'm very curious of your impressions about both.

Kinda funny because I did not even get dinner the first night.

Did not visit Sasebo but I did spend two days in Nagasaki which is coming up.  There are a lot of things to see and do around Sasebo but spending a day there would not get in enough miles for the day.  The heat really took a couple of days to get accustomed to riding. I would wake up around 5 and then try to get in as many miles with few breaks before 10 as I could.  After 10 things would get bad.  I'll try and write about it.  It was worse than any hot day I have experienced at Pinnacles. 

 I had a slight anxiety at the beginning of the trip that I would not be able to do the route I had in mind.

[clink]

The heat really took a couple of days to get accustomed to riding. I would wake up around 5 and then try to get in as many miles with few breaks before 10 as I could.  After 10 things would get bad.  I'll try and write about it.  It was worse than any hot day I have experienced at Pinnacles.

 Awesome venture again Noal! Looking forward to reading the continuation.

The heat really took a couple of days to get accustomed to riding. I would wake up around 5 and then try to get in as many miles with few breaks before 10 as I could.  After 10 things would get bad.  I'll try and write about it.  It was worse than any hot day I have experienced at Pinnacles.

 Island heat is gnarly, like warm lead slowly filling your lungs so you can't breathe and weighing you down so you can't move. I felt shocked on my first hike last year on the Big Island(like I'd suddenly turned Brad and JC's age in a hour and a half), it took me a while to acclimate and a lot of anxiety on the next couple of hikes. Pinnacles heat kills you kinder.

[Brad Young]

We're waiting....

Off for now though to do our annual SPH group trail work day. I'll be home this evening.

[clink]

 Yes, want more…
 Walking on the Mamalahoa Bypass Rd at 10 minutes before sunrise to beat the heat. Pinkish to the purpleish clouds.

[NOAL]

DAY 2  Sayonomizumi Lake to Hario Island 45 miles

     This was a pretty uninteresting day of the trip as far as scenery, riding, and points of interest.  The scenery got better towards the end of the day when I crossed over to Hario Island.  Not many photos taken  but this is also due to trying to conserve the battery on my phone.  One downside (among many) of the more primitive camping situations is nowhere to charge things. Before I go on these trips I spend hours on Google maps marking all of the places on the map that could be useful or interesting.  This way I can keep the phone on airplane mode and not need internet to update the map. As much as I try to prepare there are still many instances where what looked good at home in reality turns out not to be a good option and I need the internet to find an alternative. This is crucial at the end of the day for booking a hotel room or trying to find a campground and depending where you are this eats the battery super fast. 

As I mentioned in my TR about Hokkaido the convenience stores or konbinis as they are called in Japan are pretty awesome.  Kyushu has the same ones as Hokkaido Lawson, Family Mart, and 7 Eleven but they do not have Seico Mart. That's a local Hokkaido convenience store.  Many people insist that 7 Eleven is the best of the three but I'm gonna be a little controversial and say Lawson is the best all around, Family Mart is second and 7 Eleven is last.  Family Mart beats out 7 Eleven because many of them have an air conditioned seating area set up to do office work.  There's usually a desk like area with charging ports.  You can hang out, drink coffee, charge your devices, eat snacks as long as you like. Family Mart's food is not as good as Lawson but it's still pretty good.  Maybe I'll make a list of my favorite foods from konbinis.  Konbini food is good but  after awhile it gets old.  It's great if you need snacks to eat while riding the bike and maybe in a pinch good for dinner if you are camping and have no choice but I will always take supermarket food or a hot meal from a restaurant any day over the conbini.

 See a lot of tourists on Youtube visiting Japan who are on a budget, or maybe don't speak Japanese and are intimidated by ordering at a restaurant who eat primarily at konbinis.  While food at conbinis might be 100x better than U.S. convenience stores or fake Japanese restaurants it's important to remember that it's still processed food.  Not something to eat for every meal every day.  At least not for me. Maybe that's some people's thing.  One of the best feelings is to get out of your comfort zone, suck it up ,and go into that restaurant full of all Japanese people.  Yeah sometimes it's like that scene in Animal House when they visit the bar.  When you go inside a small Izakaya all the talking might stop and everybody might stare at you for a couple of seconds but 9 times out of 10 you will have a great meal and experience. 



   There was a pretty good descent down from the reservoir campground.  Maybe 4 miles or so which was a nice start to the morning but from there the riding got flat with no shade.  I think it was also the weekend so there was a ton of traffic.  Many of the roads in Kyushu do not have a shoulder.  Sometimes there is a sidewalk/ bike path which is good for hill climbs with no shoulder but bad for descents and flat areas. This is primarily because vegetation grows really fast there and busts through the side walk making cracks and crap you have to ride through.  Definitely not good for riding fast or especially downhill sections. 

There was quite a bit of cheesy touristy stuff in this area too.  The penultimate being Huis Ten Bosch a theme park that recreates the Netherlands with Dutch windmills canals etc https://english.huistenbosch.co.jp/ or Arita Porcelain park a theme park with a recreation of Germany's Zwinger palace  https://www.japan.travel/en/spot/771/  Now I'm sure that in true Japanese style these theme parks are done very tastefully and probably are good quality but it's really not what I traveled half way around the world to see. 

So long story short I eventually escaped this region after I crossed over a bridge to a area called Hario.  Did I mention it was hot?

Scenery getting better



My bookmarking at home worked and the campground turned out to be pretty good.  There was a section for reserved sites and a big field area for "free camping"  meaning you can set up anywhere in the field.  I had the whole field to myself which meant I also had the shower and kitchen area to myself.  Best part was there was an outlet in the kitchen to charge my phone. 


View of the bay



kitchen shower facilities



View of the bay at sunrise. 



  I had asked the campground host earlier if there was anywhere to eat close by.  I actually had this whole conversation in Japanese without having to use Google translate or any English.  One of the first times I did that. Pat myself on the back. There was a restaurant across the street that did not get a recommendation from the host and another 20 minutes down the road that did get a recommendation.  I was done riding for the day and getting back would require a major hill climb in the dark so I decided to try out the place across the road.  Walked in and was denied.  I guess no dining for single people.  Only rooms for groups by reservation.  Looks like I would be grabbing dinner from the Lawson next door.  Had a box meal with noodles, a packet of sweet potato salad, a croquette, and green salad.  Like I said earlier acceptable food but not the best.  At least it was better than camping the night before with no dinner.  Ate dinner and went to bed.

[NOAL]

Yes, want more…
 Walking on the Mamalahoa Bypass Rd at 10 minutes before sunrise to beat the heat. Pinkish to the purpleish clouds.

Post some photos.

Sorry for the delay.  Started writing at the end of work yesterday.  Was a little hard to come up with something to say about one of the most uneventful days of the trip.  I also do not have any internet service in the apartment where I now live.  This is to keep me from doing work at home and watching TV. 

[NOAL]

Day 3 Hario to Nagasaki 105 miles

Alrighty, now that I added up the miles for this day some things make more sense!  Had no idea at the time that I did a century..  I am kinda of shocked right now because there was quite a bit of constant up and down along the coast which from the hours of 12 to 3 made things kind of slow and hairy. No tunnels through hills like in Hokkaido.  About 1km down hill and another 1km uphill.  This resulted in me laying flat out on the ground on the side of the road in the shade of a electrical pole, laying in the shade of vending machines, hiding out in a public toilet for 1/2 hour, and pretty much stopping at about 2 dozen vending machines. Got a lot of strange looks.  I also even had time to stop at a roadside station for a full lunch.  I guess this is the day when I decided (maybe subconsciously) what pattern the trip would need to take to deal with the heat.

As I said earlier I had already figured out that the most progress would be made early in the day between 5-10.  After that it was just a battle to stay hydrated and keep my body temp down . Once I would feel my body temp go way up my brain/head would start to feel like it was going to explode and my mind would start to experience a sort of delirium.  The weather was identical to what I experienced growing up in Alabama.  Humidity was the killer.  Shade will only help a bit and you still continue to sweat.  So what this requires is a constant intake of liquid and dozens of stops.

Let's talk about vending machines for a second here.  Last trip I made the claim that Japan does not have recycling by the vending machines.  Well folks I'm here to tell you that was poor reporting on my part and the good news is almost all of the vending machines in Kyushu have recycling bins!  This helped out a ton in the heat but also resulted in me spending about $200 on cold drinks.  I have drank all of the different types of drinks for vending machines in Kyushu.  Coffee, tea, sodas, sparkling water, flavored water, water, even tomato juice.


Some favorites include:  any Georgia brand coffee drinks especially the iced latte,  Momo (peach) water, Pocari Sweat this stuff helps restore the salt you lose sweating kind of like Gatorade but maybe better, and tomato juice with lemon which is surprising refreshing when cold and good with a sandwich. 

Headed out around 5:30 when the sun was coming up.  From Hario I crossed over to Saikaicho.  Around this area is a U.S. naval base.  Here's a shot where you can barely see a naval ship.



I had bookmarked a limestone cave near this area that looked really good but one of the disadvantages to riding early is some sight seeing spots are closed.  Surprisingly I found that most museums on the trip opened at 8 a.m.  Even art museums.

Another shot of one of the many small fishing towns that are everywhere in coastal Japan



At one of the points where I was laying on the side of the road in my semi catatonic state I looked up and saw there were tons of caterpillars.  Fortunately they were not smoking hookah pipes and did not start talking to me.



From what I could tell these guys turn in a very large black butterfly (which is hard to photograph) Also saw a lot of dragonflys and frogs.  The one animal I wanted to see (live) but only saw as roadkill was the Tanooki Dog or raccoon dog which looks exactly like it's name. There's tons of  ceramic statues of these guys outside of restaurants and tourists spots

Around 2 o'clock I was really feeling it. Having to stop every 10 mins or so.  I was in the middle of a hill climb and found a concrete embankment to take a nap on.  Every time I found a good shady space I was tempted to just stay there until 4 o'clock .  That's how I was feeling at this spot.  I made a rule with myself that every time I thought I felt good enough to ride again I would wait an additional 10 minutes.   This spot was too good.  So after 20 minutes I forced myself to finish the hill climb and boy o boy when I got to the top I sure was glad that I did!  At the top was a roadside station and it was a really good one!



farmer's market in station



I talked about roadside stations in the Hokkaido TR.  These places are the bees knees.  It's like a rest stop in the U.S. but each one usually has a farmer's market where locals bring their produce to sell.  There's also prepared food and snacks made by locals that showcase what the region is known for.    I think I said it before but I will say it again never pass one of these places up.  They stomp a convenience store into the ground and usually there is a restaurant attached that will have some grannies cooking up local seafood,meat, veggies etc.  This one was no exception the restaurant was fantastic. 

There was an option of 4 different main dishes.  Around $12 each.  You pay at the door and then once you get in the rest of the accompanying food is buffet style.  So I got tempura.  Then at the buffet there's a few different kinds of soup with your choice of extras.  Bits of dried tofu, seaweed, mushrooms.  There was also a big table of pickled veggies, and a salad bar that included macaroni and pasta salads, potato salad and of course there was also a giant rice cooker of all you can eat rice.

Also can't forget all road side stations usually have soft serve made with local cow's milk.  Never pass up the soft serve.

View from the restaurant.  The building below is a museum for the writer Endo Shusaku.  I did not visit the museum. 



This roadside station is called Yuhigaoka Sotome.   It is up on a point after a small town called Sotome.  I forgot until just now that this where I had a small conversation with an elderly Japanese nun while I was resting in the shade.  Kyushu has a long history of foreign influence that started as far back as I believe the 1600's. Kagoshima is one of the ports that was always open even when Japan closed it's doors to foreigners prior to the Meiji Restoration. Kagoshima would end up being the city that started the restoration in the late 1800's and Japan's push to modernize.  In Sotome there is a large Catholic church/convent. 

[Brad Young]

DAY 2  Sayonomizumi Lake to Hario Island 45 miles

"...I actually had this whole conversation in Japanese without having to use Google translate or any English.  One of the first times I did that. Pat myself on the back.

This is pretty impressive.

[clink]

At one of the points where I was laying on the side of the road in my semi catatonic state I looked up and saw there were tons of caterpillars.  Fortunately they were not smoking hookah pipes and did not start talking to me.

 There was a dancing spider off the lanai that I videoed this morning, it didn't talk or sing either.

Post some photos.

I tried to email myself a few but got nada. So no next step of using my Flicker skills acquired from my tutelage under Shaman Cook. My iPhone is possessed.

Day 3 Hario to Nagasaki 105 miles

Alrighty, now that I added up the miles for this day some things make more sense!  Had no idea at the time that I did a century for this day.  I am kinda of shocked right now because there was quite a bit of constant up and down along the coast which from the hours of 12 to 3 made things kind of slow and hairy. No tunnels through hills like in Hokkaido.  About 1km down hill and another 1km uphill.  This resulted in me laying flat out on the ground on the side of the road in the shade of a electrical pole, laying in the shade of vending machines, hiding out in a public toilet for 1/2 hour, and pretty much stopping at about 2 dozen vending machines. Got a lot of strange looks.  I also even had time to stop at a roadside station for a full lunch.  I guess this is the day when I decided (maybe subconsciously) what pattern the trip would need to take to deal with the heat.

 Brutal, but made me laugh thinking about the way you went about commandeering any available shade.

[clink]

The one animal I wanted to see (live) but only saw as roadkill was the Tanooki Dog or raccoon dog which looks exactly like it's name. There's tons of  ceramic statues of these guys outside of restaurants and tourists spots

 Reminded of the promised second coming of Christ and what you actually get while waiting. Roadkill and statues. Thank God for spices!

This spot was too good.  So after 20 minutes I forced myself to finish the hill climb and boy o boy when I got to the top I sure was glad that I did!  At the top was a roadside station and it was a really good one!
I talked about roadside stations in the Hokkaido TR.  These places are the bees knees.  It's like a rest stop in the U.S. but each one usually has a farmer's market where locals bring their produce to sell.  There's also prepared food and snacks made by locals that showcase what the region is known for.    I think I said it before but I will say it again never pass one of these places up.  They stomp a convenience store into the ground and usually there is a restaurant attached that will have some grannies cooking up local seafood,meat, veggies etc.  This one was no exception the restaurant was fantastic.

There was an option of 4 different main dishes.  Around $12 each.  You pay at the door and then once you get in the rest of the accompanying food is buffet style.  So I got tempura.  Then at the buffet there's a few different kinds of soup with your choice of extras.  Bits of dried tofu, seaweed, mushrooms.  There was also a big table of pickled veggies, and a salad bar that included macaroni and pasta salads, potato salad and of course there was also a giant rice cooker of all you can eat rice.

Also can't forget all road side stations usually have soft serve made with local cow's milk.  Never pass up the soft serve.

 Sounds delicious! Heaven! No pics of the grannies?


 


 

[JC w KC redux]

Nice views of the water. 
I took a few notes as I read - jotting down some of "cultural" references that came to mind (not all of them)

Day 1

Can we dance wif yo dates?

Wally World in Japan – complete with John Candy sumo look-alike

Day 2 –

Lawson’s conjures ice cold cream soda on a hot summer day and the “Roll on Big O” commercial (childhood musings)

I can just see you employing your strategies for rest/shade – cracked me up – even though there is nothing funny about heat exhaustion or heat stroke! Nice job surviving dude 

I’ll lay here on my back ….in a semi catatonic state…

Gotta love Granny’s cookin' – any possum grits?

[NOAL]

I’ll lay here on my back ….in a semi catatonic state… 

Laying on your back on the side of the road does take a little thought.  First you want to find a spot you can prop your bike up that is really visible.  Second a good position is to put your hands behind your head so it looks like you are relaxing.  Otherwise there's a good chance someone will think you've been injured or are sick. Sick like ill not like sick in the head.

The helmet police out there will love this one.  The third day
I chucked my helmet.  The helmet channels sweat down your face making all the sunscreen get in your eyes which burns like mother and blinds you. Goodbye helmet.

[NOAL]

    After the stop at the roadside station things remained really hot for another couple of hours.  I rode for about an hour until 3 o'clock.  Time to start thinking about finding somewhere to stay for the night.  Consulting the map I did not have anywhere bookmarked for this stretch of the coast.  I would need to get to a small town where there was internet to look more thoroughly.  This is when I hid out in the public bathroom.  Getting out of the sun makes looking at the map easier too.  Turned out there was no good prospects for inns or camping.  Hmmm. what to do?  This is definitely where I got the extra miles to get over 100 for the day. 

    I decided to ride another 40 or so kilometers to Nagasaki.  I had enough time to get there before sunset and with all the extra miles I gained I could spend two nights and have a full day to visit museums sight see etc.  The internet was good enough that I was able to book a business hotel at the train station in the middle of the city.  Japan rail or JR has their own chain of business hotels that are part of the train station.  They are excellent quality especially for $50 a night and super convenient.  Most of the time in larger cities the train station is kind of like the center of town.  There will be a everything you need inside of an 8 or ten story shopping center.  They have plazas in front that have food festivals on the weekend.  For example Nagasaki's food fest that weekend was local craft beers and burgers.

    Once the hotel was booked I was motivated by the promise of a shower and air conditioning so I put the hammer down.  Nagasaki is located in a valley that has large hills/mtns on three sides. The coastal highway I was on from the North enters the city by a long tunnel.  It's kind of like a magic portal.  Enter the tunnel and 15 minutes later you are magically in Nagasaki!  Ta da!  I got there right at sunset just as it started to drizzle rain.

Central Nagasaki at sunset.  You can see the street car in the lower middle of the image


Checked into the hotel, took a shower, closed my eyes,and enjoyed the A/C for about 1/2 hr.  Since it was raining I decided to explore the mall in the train station ( air conditioned too).  The train station malls are very nice.  They have 4 or five floors of shopping for clothes, a book store, a grocery store, a floor of gourmet food/ food for gifts, and a pharmacy.  When it comes to restaurants there is usually a top floor that has 2 or 3 high end restaurants, a floor underneath that has about 12 sit down restaurants, and then there's almost always a food court somewhere closer to the street that has more inexpensive takeout and fast food.  Long story short it can take awhile to make up your mind.  I went for sushi where you sit in a cubicle at a bar and order on a touch screen.  After that grabbed some snacky stuff and went to watch TV in the room.

ZERO DAY NAGASAKI


Slept in and woke up around 6!  Went down to the train station for some coffee and to buy a day pass for the street car.  The public transportation for the central portion of Nagasaki is a system of about 4 street car lines.  As I said earlier the city is in a sort of box canyon with mountains on three sides.  The street cars cover most of the flat areas in the valley/flat portion of the city.  A day pass is only 500 yen or $3.00 which is a really good deal if you want to sight see.  Turns out the visitor center in the train station sells passes but they do not open until 8.  I drank coffee and walked around the station some more making mental notes for later.

At 8 I got my pass and hopped on the street car.



First stop was the one legged Tori gate.  This gate is less than a 1/2 kilometer from the bomb epicenter.  It was one of the few things standing after the bomb. 



The other pieces of the gate

 

This camphor tree also survived the blast.  It is at the base of the steps to the shrine.  It truly is a testament to resiliency and rebirth.  The second tree grew after the bomb.



photo of the tree right after the bomb



both trees



From here it is a short walk to the Atomic Bomb Museum, the epicenter, and the peace plaza.

Museum



It's hard to put into words the museum experience but it did make me tear up quite a bit.  It starts out at the entrance with this clock.  The hands stopped at 11:05 the minute the bomb hit.



This was the only photo I took even though the museum encourages you to take as many as you like and to share.  The exhibits are extremely well thought out to show a progression of evidence so that most humans will arrive at the conclusion that not just nuclear weapons but all things nuclear should be abolished.  There is a large portion where you can touch objects from the blast.  There also is a section where Japan's history of their colonization of Asia from the Meiji Restoration up to the bomb is explained.   It's a fantastic museum but very emotional.  I highly recommend.  As a society we should be beyond war and old men grinding axes at the expense of innocent people.

After the bomb museum I checked out the art museum next door.  It was only 100 yen or 75 cents. All the  museums that I visited were very affordable.  I think the bomb museum was 800yen or 5 bucks.   I wish museums in the U.S. would be subsidized more.  Last time I went to the museum in SF it was $40. Totally wack.

bomb epicenter



peace plaza



 

[JC w KC redux]

Nice post. Cool statue. Sobering information.

[NOAL]

    One part towards the end of the museum is a wall about 20 feet long that has all of the nuclear oopsies that have occurred in the world.  These are not minor oopsies they are major fuck ups. I forget the exact number but if I remember correctly it is somewhere in the range of 150-200.  Nukes that were detonated by accident in transport, reactor meltdowns, intentional detonations that had unforeseen consequences that were carried out as "experiments", and reactors damaged by natural disasters such as the 2016 earthquake in Japan.

  There were many reasons for the U.S. to develop the A bomb but the argument that it was just to end a war does not hold water.  The U.S. government had the bomb in mind way before WW2 and the war was just an excuse to perform an "experiment"  at the expense of innocent human beings.  It was also a political flex.   There was an exact replica of the bomb in the museum that showed the cross section of the four or five different layers.  At the center was the nuke which would create about a 3-4 second flash stronger than the strength of the sun vaporizing everyone in a kilometer or so from the epicenter.  Around the nuke was about 4 more layers of different kinds of explosives with the intent to level/destroy/burn everything in the valley. 

   Seeing how the U.S. had already detonated some A bombs prior to bombing Japan one can only come to the conclusion that one of the reasons for bombing Nagasaki and Hiroshima was to experiment on actual human beings.  In my eyes this is no different than the experiments performed by the Nazis in concentration camps.  Pure evil.   

   One of the other displays shown were canisters with transmitters inside that were dropped with the bomb in the surrounding countryside/mountains.  These canisters radioed back to U.S. naval base in Guam data about the explosion. 

   I realize that some might have a differering opinion on the subject but I would appreciate it if you do not post on this thread.  If you want to talk to me about it DM or talk to me in person.

   additional reading with photos of quotes from the museum  https://thebulletin.org/2020/08/memorial-days/
   

[NOAL]

    It was about 11 when I finished checking out all the stuff around the museum.  It was starting to get hot.  I popped into an air conditioned shopping mall down the street, had some takoyaki, and browsed the bookstore.  Next I hopped on the street car and headed to see the Megane (eyeglasses) bridge.

Megane Bridge


The bridge was built sometime in the 1600's and if the water is really smooth the reflection looks like a pair of eyeglasses. 

Across the canal from here is an area called Hamamachi where the streets are closed to traffic and covered.  Essentially a shopping mall.  Most every larger city has an area like this.  There are a lot of restaurants in Hamamachi  so it was time to grab some lunch. There are about four culinary things Kyushu is known for green tea, sweet potatoes, shochu (rice liquour), and Kurobuta pigs.  The Kurabota pig is a black pig that I believe is also called a Berkshire.  This pork is considered some of the best if not the best in the world.  It is super tender and flavorful.  The prefecture in Kyushu where the pigs are farmed is Kagoshima.  I was not yet to Kagoshima but I figured I'd try this restaurant to have a something to compare to the best which I should stress SHOULD be in Kagoshima.  The meal was fantastic.  It was so good that it takes the #2 spot out of the four Tonkatsu restaurants I visited.  I will later describe the Tonkatsu restaurant experience and what makes it different than Tonkatsu that you can get here in the U.S.

   When you eat deep fried pork for lunch in 98 degree weather it puts a damper on your sight seeing energy.  Went back to the hotel and took a nap. Headed back out around 4 to Maruyamachi the ward adjacent to Hamamachi I visited earlier for lunch.  This neighborhood was one of my favorite of the trip and I wish I had more time to spend exploring.  I think I could have spent an additional day just there.  Many of the stone structures such as stairs and walls survived the A bomb.  A good portion of this ward is on a hillside with a couple of dozen shrines, and many cemeteries, gardens, and residences.  It's a maze of staircases, narrow passages , and walkways.  Many of the residences cannot be accessed by car only by foot.  The flatter portions of the ward where many restaurants and Izayakas are located are also an unplanned neighborhood. Just a maze and some of things you encounter make you wonder if it's a place that you should be walking around at night. Love that.







This shrine had another very large Camphor tree.  This one was supposed to be the largest in Nagasaki.  It's also pretty old.




Cats knocked out by the heat.  There are hundreds of cats in this neighborhood. 


Sometimes you see really modern style buildings next to Showa era buildings that are falling apart



This one is an art gallery/cafe.  The top floor is the gallery and the bottom floor the cafe/bar where you can listen to jazz records.  I was peeking through the window and the owner beckoned me in and gave me a tour.  He lived in Fukuoka and would come down to put up exhibits in the gallery. 



Had dinner at an Izakaya/ yakitori place and then headed back to the hotel.  Was planning on taking the rope way up to the observatory on top of the mountain but it started raining. 

[mynameismud]

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