A Beautiful Sweedish Girl Peace Parks N ToriArches

Trip Start Dec 01, 1999

103

Trip End Aug 31, 2000

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Flag of Japan Nagasaki, Kyushu-Okinawa, Japan
Thursday, February 24, 2000

Nagasaki City with Anna (19)

Nagasaki City with Anna (1)

Nagasaki City with Anna (21)

Hey Hey and a Big G'Day toya,

How peaceful are Peace Parks?

Seriously, I really do want to know.
I know that peace parks are built for a reason and that reason is painful.

But how peaceful are Peace Parks?

I know they are full of sadness and everyone walks around in silence trying to cope with everything they have just seen and trying to comprehend what really did happen.

But how peaceful are Peace Parks?

Are they really the only place on earth where nothing bad happens?
I know churches are supposed to be a 'good' place.
Many are but bad things have happened in many churches both in the past and present.
Things between believers and non-believers and little boys and Priests.

Cemeteries....Cemeteries are supposed to be a place of peace but even there bad things happen between the dead and the living and the living and the living that end up dead and buried in secret etc.

But how peaceful are Peace Parks?

Your home is supposed to be your safe haven from bad happenings but more and more people have bad things done to them each year in their home by people they both know and don't know.

So Peace Parks, how peaceful are Peace Parks?

Do bad things happen in Peace Parks?

Are they the last remaining place of respect and peace left on this planet?

This is what was running through my head throughout the many hours I spent at the Nagasaki Peace Park.

Wow, Nagasaki, I'm really in Nagasaki!

The second target of the US and completely flattened on August 9th 1945.

This is where I woke and this is where I find myself now.

I headed down stairs to make myself the usual mornings 'three in one' coffee to find a beautiful girl from Sweden in the kitchen. After we introduced ourselves, me Shane she Anna, we sat to share coffee and ramblings and after awhile we found it obvious that we wanted to spend more time together.

So with caffeine sipping its way through our minds we grabbed our day packs and decided to spend the day together.

First stop was 'Ground Zero'.

The Nagasaki War Museum and Peace Park were for me, more moving, graphic and intense than the Hiroshima ones. On display were the same photos of survivors and furnaced fathers, mothers and babies and children. There was scorched clothing, staircases and other twisted metal 'things' along with an exhibition of how the bomb was created and the war up to the moment the bombs was used.

Horrific!

As I had already been to the Hiroshima Museum etc I was effected by what I had seen but not as effected as Anna. She looked and felt like I did several days ago.

After many hours we left the building and headed over to the Hypocenter Park which is the same as the Peace Park in Hiroshima. Directly above a black square and column is where the bomb was detonated. Not far away the remains of the Urakami Cathedral can be found along with the Samo-Jinja or One-Legged Tori (stone arch).

Like the rest of many war victims, the rest of it the arch can be found lying on the ground near by.

In the middle of the park and located not far from the 'friendship fountain' can be found 'The Peace Statue' which I think was donated by America. I could be wrong with that though. Its right hand pointing upwards and is supposed to symbolise the threat of nuclear war and its left hand is supposedly extended to force back all things evil...like America!

I can swear I read or that someone told me that it was a present from America.
Dunno mate, seemed a little out of place to me!

As we left the 'Peaceful Area' I felt more comfortable with myself.
I was glad I had visited both Peace Parks as what I had found were feelings of forgiveness and future dreams of nothing but simply PEACE for the world around us.

Will World Peace ever happen?
No...No I don't think peace on earth will ever happen.
I would like it too believe me, but No I don't think it's a realistic thought.

I believe that mankind is the rodent of this planet.

Looking at the earth and its history we have been here for what?......TICK.....yes a simple tick of the clock or a blink of an eye and what have we done? We have destroyed, destroyed and continued to destroy.

It seems that the more we advance the more we destroy our future.
There is something inside us that will never allow peace on earth. There are those who will never allow it to happen as they are 'leaders and more important that others' and there are those whom are simply born evil. The rest of the population most probably could enter into the bliss that peace on earth could be but when I say I believe it won't happen, I simply mean that those mentioned above will never allow it to happen.

Someone's opinion will always be more important that the rest and it will be forced upon the general public etc. A single country will always believe that they are greater and more important that the rest. A single religion will always believe that their dogma, practices, dress codes and beliefs are THE CORRECT one.

So no, I don't believe the minority will allow it to happen.

Enough said. My views and my views only.
I'd never ask anyone to agree with them.

We then decided to walk around the city for the day. As we walked we got to know more about each other and started to have a really great time. Anna really was a great person to get to know. We decided to follow 'my way' of getting to know a city and not use any public transport and to zig zag our way to and from pin points taken from the Good Book (LP). We found Megane-Bashi with its reflections in all their glory on the river surface it crossed over.

Better known as Spectacles Bridge as the reflections look like a pair of spectacles.
Why not, good on the person who named it!

Anna had been told of an interesting street to visit full of temples. It was called Temple Row or Teramachi. Your walk will begin with Sofuku-Ji (HHHhhhmmm try saying that fast! Ha ha ha!) and end with Kofuku-Ji (ha ha ha, now say that one fast!)

Say them both and it sounds like your having an argument with yourself!

One of the temples on this street is the Zen Temple in Japan but we forgot to find out which one it was.

Whilst walking around the streets enjoying each others company and not really bothering too much about seeing too much we ran into a lovely Japanese girl who invited us to dinner. Why not we thought so we allowed her to lead us here and there and we spent the evening in a little eatery sharing beers and the most awesome food. As I was living mostly on fruit, bread rolls and noodles it really was great to have real food and plenty of it.

After dinner Anna and I walk and talked under the neon's before heading back to the Hostel before being locked out.

Stupid bloody curfew!

Beers N Cheers toya..shane

Accommodation:
Nagasaki Youth Hostel
1-1-16 Taleyama
NAGASAKI JAPAN
Ph: 0958 23 5032
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The soundtrack to this entry was the soundtrack to the movie 'Braveheart'
Love 'Betrayal and Desolation'