2 weeks since I arrived in Japan! Seems so long ago now!
So it's 3 days after I visited the atomic bomb sites in Hiroshima, and it was 3 days after the bomb was dropped there that the 2nd bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. The Nagasaki memorial site is very different to Hiroshima's. For starters it was a lot quieter, and feels a bit more hidden away. I think this is partly because it is more in one of the suburbs rather than being in the centre of the city, but also the area around the hypocentre is more developed than the park in Hiroshima. However, like Hiroshima there is a museum containing artefacts related to the bombing, again taking each of the 3 parts of the explosion (blast winds, heat, and radiation) individually.
Nagasaki was particularly unlucky in what happened. It was actually the secondary target in the attack, but the primary target, Kokura, was obscured by thick smoke. After circling 3 times, the crew of the Bockscar diverted to Nagasaki. At 10:58am they were ready to return to base without dropping the bomb as Nagasaki was covered in cloud. However, just a couple of minutes later they spotted the Mitsubishi Arms Factory through a gap in the cloud and at 11:02am the bomb was dropped. Unfortunately, it missed it's target by quite some distance (1-2km I think) and instead it exploded 500m above the suburb of Urakami. The topography of Nagasaki made the damage area different to that from Hiroshima. Even though the Nagasaki bomb was more powerful, it detonated above an area that is surrounded by hills which protected some of the other outlying parts of the city. In contrast, Hiroshima is a much flatter part of the country, hence the blast winds were able to spread a lot further. The same would also have been true had the intended target been hit as it laid in a much flatter part of Nagasaki.
The Nagasaki Peace Park contains a number of monuments that have been donated by various countries around the world, along with a peace fountain and the bronze Nagasaki Peace Statue.
In the afternoon I decided to brave a Japanese bus for the sort ride to the Nagasaki Ropeway (the buses use the same take-a-number-when-you-get-on-and-pay-the-driver-as-you-get-off system that the commuter trains use). The Ropeway ascends Mt Inasa-yama, climbing some 333m in 5 minutes. At the top there is an "observatory". It's not an observatory in the star-gazing sense, but a building from the top of which you get a 360-degree panorama of the city; which looks a lot bigger that it seems on the ground. It is said to be one of the best night-views in Japan
Anyway, last night in Nagasaki. Tomorrow it's back to Tokyo. Scheduled to take about 9 hours on 4 trains. Staying in the same hotel as when I arrived in Tokyo, so hopefully it won't be too hard to find!
Update: 2015
So relaxing in my hotel room trying to work out what is going on on the telly. I've managed to work out mostly what's going on in the sumo, but that finished a couple of hours ago. I've now stumbled across some music program. They've just done some sort of top 5 for 10-30 year olds, and 40-50 year olds. It was just like watching Eurovision through the ages. Seriously, if we want to stop the Eastern Bloc winning every year, let's get Japan involved! There's also some female singer on who seems to be dressed like a robot. And if Terry Wogan were commentating on the program, I'm sure he'd have a thing or 2 to say about the presenters (anyone remember "Dr Death and the Tooth Fairy"???) There are 2 presenters... One is a young and giggly (as in giggles a lot) female, the other is a much older bloke wearing sunglasses and very "stiff". I think all I need now is an obligatory key change and it is Eurovision! Quick cross-check on the Eurovision Bingo card would see us cross off "presenters", "costumes", and I now have "questionable background dancers", "elaborate strage dressing", we've also just had "confused presenters". Sadly, I think "weird lyrics" will remain un-crossed; but only because they're singing in their native language and I have no English translations available!
Also, why is it the girl groups over here sound like they're all singing on helium?!
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Update: 2035
Old man presenter suddenly becomes more alive when he gets to interview girl group (members aged 16 to 19)! Still awaiting a key change though!