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Today we went on a day trip to Nagasaki. The train ride took about two hours so it was a fair way to go. When we arrived we made our way via street car to the Nagasaki Peace Museum. Nagasaki was hit by an atomic bomb two days after Hiroshima was hit and it was after this bombing that Japan officially surrendered.
The museum was a little bit smaller than the Hiroshima one but it had a lot of different information. Whilst this bomb didn't injure or kill as many people as the first bomb it still affected at least half of the population of Nagasaki.
Some of the information I found interesting included a statement made by Truman, the president of the USA at the time of the bombings. He said that the bomb was necessary in order to bring an end to the war and save the lives of thousands and thousands of young Americans. It makes me think at what cost? Such a stupid thing to say in my opinion. Stupid way to justify it.
We wondered through the peace park after that and admired the many monuments, tributes and statues.
We also stopped by the one legged torii. This torii gate had been blasted by the bomb but only one side of the stone gate collapsed leaving the other half standing strong. They have only had to provide minor reinforcements to the one legged torii for it to remain standing.
We took the street car down to the Chinatown area with the idea of trying Nagasaki's local dish but after looking at the sample dishes we both decided against it. Too much seafood for our liking. Instead I had a pork steamed bun and two steamed honey balls. The honey balls were filled with a delicious black jam which we have no idea what it was and were coated in sesame seeds. I thought they were quite spectacular, hence why I had two.
We took the street car back up to a nearby department store where we took the Ferris wheel for a spin. We got a very clear glimpse of the size of Nagasaki and we could see the topography and layout. It's set in a plain and surrounded by mountains with houses backing up on the slopes. Quite a pretty place.
After a bit of shopping and arcade game playing we trundled back to the station and made the two hour journey back to Nagasaki.
We stopped in at the city for a few more hours of shopping and then dinner at CoCo Ichiban, Shannon's favourite Japanese curry house.
Tomorrow we are getting up bright and early (6am! Yikes!) to catch the train to Tokyo, our last stop of the trip. It's sad that our journey is coming to an end and exciting at the same time that we are coming into Tokyo. Such a cool place!
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