This weekend we decided to venture out of our darling Sasebo (with which we are quickly falling in love) and try going to Nagasaki. An inside scoop from a friend told us there is a way to get there that costs far less in toll money, with only about 30 extra minutes tacked on to the driving time. Since everyone here pretty much drives and gives directions via landmark, we went "toward Hario, turning right at the Family Mart, then left at the tunnel, through the tunnel, through the toll gate, across the bridge, and then follow the signs." Or something like that, anyway. Point is, we found our way just fine.
The drive up the coastline was absolutely spectacular. We could not have asked for a more beautiful sunny day, and the sparkling water filled us with that happy sensation you get when you're exactly where you're meant to be.
That feeling was shortly thereafter, replaced by hunger.
The now typical scramble for me to read signs as we passed them went as poorly as it always does; which a whole lot of me saying: "That was an udon shop back there. Wait I think this is a... no that's a flower shop... wait... slow down I think... do you want ramen? No? Okay never mind then."
Finally we pulled into a parking lot of what we hoped was a restaurant, and sure enough, there was a sample menu with photos outside the door. Great success, thanks to Hubby! I couldn't tell you the name of the restaurant, and I'm not even sure I could find it again if I needed to, but it's somewhere on "that coastal road heading toward Nagasaki" and the food was delicious. Hubby tried O-den for the first time, and enjoyed it, almost more in concept than in flavor.
With food in our bellies we made our way to Nagasaki, and about 45 minutes later were downtown. The signs to the Peace Park and Atomic Bomb Museum were easy enough to follow, and once we found parking it was smooth sailing.
As we walked along the outside of the museum looking for an entrance, we were able to see down through the glass window walls, into the main lobby. Countless strands of origami cranes, bound together to equal 1,000 cranes per set, were hanging there. These cranes were a tribute to the Japanese legend that if a person folds 1,000 paper cranes, they will be granted a wish. This was made famous worldwide in light of the atomic bombings, when the story of Sadako Sasaki was made public (and turned into a book, which I highly recommend reading if you haven't). Feel free to read this Wikipedia article for more quick information (say what you want about Wikipedia, it's a good source for quick tidbits and general concepts):
Anyway, I paused in my tracks when I saw the cranes. I stared at them. Hubby and Aria had already run ahead to look at something else (more Aria's doing than anything). But I couldn't move. Out of nowhere I started bawling and I couldn't stop in spite of all the stares I was getting. I was struck by the tragedy, the loss of SO MANY innocent lives. I thought of my daughter, and the idea of her in the place of kids like Sadako. I was beyond devastated. Because we are still doing these ugly things to each other. Allowing innocent children to be caught in the disgusting crossfire of conflicts they are too young to even understand. It broke my heart so suddenly, I was just overtaken with emotion.
After a 5 minute sob, I was finally able to collect myself and rejoin my family. I wanted to scoop Aria up and hold her in my arms, but she was preoccupied with some flower or bird or the fact she knows how to jump now. And in a way, I guess my tears of grief were just as much tears of gratitude for every day my daughter could do exactly what she was doing right then. So I let her be.
Visiting the museum, I learned so much. About the devastation. About the cataclysmic effects of nuclear warfare. Of the remarkable rebuilding of the city. Even about the Korean victims of the blast, and how their bodies were often ignored. Truly fascinating, and absolutely worth doing.
Here are some photos we took while at the Peace Park and epicenter of the bomb blast:
Once we were finished at the Peace Park we went to a giant mall closeby, where we had some food court dinner. And Hubby got a sizzling steak skillet thing that was absolutely incredible. The beef hits the hot skillet raw, with a giant dollop of garlic butter on top, and then you just take it on a tray to your table and enjoy. Hubby was nice enough to share with me, and this steak beats a good number of the steaks I have had in America. And in general, just on concept alone, this totally trumps American food court food. While this photo doesn't exactly keep with the semi-somber or meaningful nature of the earlier 3/4 of our day, I couldn't omit it. I mean it's prime STEAK on a SKILLET! In a FOOD COURT!
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