Since we last updated, we have been very busy exploring. Thursday night, Zack tried his first sushi. We got a map from the family center on base that had some recommended restaurants marked, and a group of us from class went out to try some authentic Japanese food. We found ourselves in a tiny sushi place with a main bar and two small tables on the floor. They offered an English menu with pictures. We all got combination 1. The sushi consisted of tuna, yellow tail, shrimp, shellfish, octopus, smoked eel, mackerel, and scrambled egg (I wish I was joking). All also had rice and wasabi. Some had seaweed paper on them. Everyone but me got hot sake. I stuck with tea. Those who like sushi really enjoyed it. Zack and I do not particularly like sushi, but it was worth a try.
Friday was the class field trip, which took us around town to some sights. We got to visit a Shinto shrine that we think is within walking distance of where we'll be living. Our guide told us that the Japanese are not relgious, they're superstitious. So there is a ritual for washing before visiting the shrine, for making a wish (involving throwing money, ringing a bell to wake up the spirits, clapping and bowing), and for finding out your fortune, as well as changing it if you don't like it. On the field trip, we also saw 99 islands again and visited the Hario housing. We ate lunch at Jusco, which is like a mall with a grocery store in the bottom.
Saturday, though, was the real adventure. Four of us went to Nagasaki without the aid of a Japanese guide. We walked to the trainstation around noon and rode for about two hours. Once off the train in Nagasaki, we took a trolly to the Hypocenter where the atom bomb was dropped. On August 9, 1945 at 11:02am, American forces dropped a nuclear bomb which detonated 500 meters above ground killing 150,000+ people. Half those people died instantly, the others were burned alive and suffered varying degrees of radiation poisoning before dying.They have errected a big black monolith there and made the area into a park and place of prayer. On the 50th anniversary of the bombing, they added a monument honoring the women and children who died in the blast. From the Hypocenter, it's about a block to the peace park, where statues from all over the world are errected to celebrate peace. From the main entrance, you climb a flight of stairs to a fountain with spray shaped like a dove representing peace. The statues are arranged below, the most prominent being of a man pointing to the sky and holding out a hand to represent peace. On either side of this statue are huts for oragami cranes that people make and leave there. Water flows around the base of the main statue, and it is all very peaceful.
Friday was the class field trip, which took us around town to some sights. We got to visit a Shinto shrine that we think is within walking distance of where we'll be living. Our guide told us that the Japanese are not relgious, they're superstitious. So there is a ritual for washing before visiting the shrine, for making a wish (involving throwing money, ringing a bell to wake up the spirits, clapping and bowing), and for finding out your fortune, as well as changing it if you don't like it. On the field trip, we also saw 99 islands again and visited the Hario housing. We ate lunch at Jusco, which is like a mall with a grocery store in the bottom.
Saturday, though, was the real adventure. Four of us went to Nagasaki without the aid of a Japanese guide. We walked to the trainstation around noon and rode for about two hours. Once off the train in Nagasaki, we took a trolly to the Hypocenter where the atom bomb was dropped. On August 9, 1945 at 11:02am, American forces dropped a nuclear bomb which detonated 500 meters above ground killing 150,000+ people. Half those people died instantly, the others were burned alive and suffered varying degrees of radiation poisoning before dying.They have errected a big black monolith there and made the area into a park and place of prayer. On the 50th anniversary of the bombing, they added a monument honoring the women and children who died in the blast. From the Hypocenter, it's about a block to the peace park, where statues from all over the world are errected to celebrate peace. From the main entrance, you climb a flight of stairs to a fountain with spray shaped like a dove representing peace. The statues are arranged below, the most prominent being of a man pointing to the sky and holding out a hand to represent peace. On either side of this statue are huts for oragami cranes that people make and leave there. Water flows around the base of the main statue, and it is all very peaceful.
From the peace park, we headed over to the Urakami Cathedral. The orginal building before the bomb was the biggest cathedral in east Asia. That building was destroyed by the bomb, but they have rebuilt. One of the artifacts that they have saved is a piece of a wooden madonna that used to stand in the cathedral. Apparently it was a beautiful piece and people came from all over to see it. Years after the bomb fell, a priest from northern Japan came to see the ruins and found the face of this madonna. He saved it and eventually returned it to the cathedral for safekeeping. The bombed madonna, as it is called, is quite something to see. The cathedral itself is very pretty, too. The windows are all stained glass and quite colorful. It's very peaceful inside.
These historical visits done, we jumped back on the trolley and went downtown to catch the lantern festival. The festival is ending this weekend and celebrates the Chinese new year. Therefore, other than the lanters which would have been enough, the do shows of traditional Chinese music and dance. We found our way to the specticle bridge, which was decorated in lanterns in the shapes of all the Chinese Zodiac signs. From there we went to a park where a stage was errected and saw a Chinese drum show, followed by acrobats and a dragon dance. The drum show was kind of like an Asian version of drumlines with high step, martial arts style moves. The acrobats were super. They balanced things on their feet and chins and did contortionist style things, balanced on things, and got eight people on one moving bike. The dragon dance was using the kind of dragon on wooden sticks that you see in movies. They had two of them and four teams that alternated carrying them as well as a percussion line that followed them around. The dragons circled and bounced around to the music and when they would leave, we were supposed to shout "Omotoi Omotoi!" (we think) to make it come back. The whole park was decorated with more lanterns, and the darker it got, the more beautiful the lanterns were.
When the dragon dance was over, we had to book it back to the station to catch the last train back to Sasebo. We managed to find it without asking for help, and we were safely back in town by a little after midnight. We were all terribly proud of ourselves for venturing so far afield without any "international incidents" as we call them.
These historical visits done, we jumped back on the trolley and went downtown to catch the lantern festival. The festival is ending this weekend and celebrates the Chinese new year. Therefore, other than the lanters which would have been enough, the do shows of traditional Chinese music and dance. We found our way to the specticle bridge, which was decorated in lanterns in the shapes of all the Chinese Zodiac signs. From there we went to a park where a stage was errected and saw a Chinese drum show, followed by acrobats and a dragon dance. The drum show was kind of like an Asian version of drumlines with high step, martial arts style moves. The acrobats were super. They balanced things on their feet and chins and did contortionist style things, balanced on things, and got eight people on one moving bike. The dragon dance was using the kind of dragon on wooden sticks that you see in movies. They had two of them and four teams that alternated carrying them as well as a percussion line that followed them around. The dragons circled and bounced around to the music and when they would leave, we were supposed to shout "Omotoi Omotoi!" (we think) to make it come back. The whole park was decorated with more lanterns, and the darker it got, the more beautiful the lanterns were.
When the dragon dance was over, we had to book it back to the station to catch the last train back to Sasebo. We managed to find it without asking for help, and we were safely back in town by a little after midnight. We were all terribly proud of ourselves for venturing so far afield without any "international incidents" as we call them.
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