(3) Kyushu Trip: 12-13 Dec-2016 Focus on Nagasaki and Gunkanjima-Hashima

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12-December-2016

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Rise and shine! We dragged ourselves out of the comfy futons and today, we intended to visit the various historical sites in Nagasaki. The photograph on the left showed a residential lane just outside the apartment.

Our apartment was within walking distance to a few shrines, one of which is Sofukuji Shrine. We walked to 3 shrines; a Shinto Shrine Yasaka Jinja 八坂神社, a buddhist temple 清水観音清水寺, and a famous buddhist temple 崇福寺.

Shinto Shrine Yasaka Jinja 八坂神社

Buddhist temple 清水観音清水寺

Sofuku-ji 崇福寺

Sōfuku-ji (崇福寺) is an Buddhist temple that was built by the Chinese monk Chaonian in 1629 as the family temple of the Chinese from Fujian Province who settled in Nagasaki. Thousands of Chinese people had lived in Nagasaki around the 17th century. Many of them came from Fujian Province, and they had created a community. In 1629, the Chinese monk Chaonian was invited, and he founded this temple as the family temple of the Chinese from Fujian Province. So the the buildings are in Chinese style.The entrance gate "Sanmon" built in 1849 is just a Chinese construction. In the temple grounds, there are some buildings. Two buildings of them are designated as national treasures. Daiippoumon gate was built in 1644, and was rebuilt in 1696 using the woods from China. On the red door, blue bats and peony are painted. Bat is the lucky animal in China. Under the roof, elaborate decoration arts are set up. This gate had been the main gate of this temple, originally. Daiyuuhouden is the main hall of this temple. It was built in 1646 using the woods from China. This temple has a sitting principal Buddha image. When the statue was repaired in 1935, the replicas of internal organs made of silver were found in the body. It presents "live Buddha", but it is a very rare statue in Japan.

Next off to Nagasaki downtown. We visited the Megane "Spectacles" Bridge. It was originally built in 1634, and was Japan’s oldest stone bridge. Unfortunately it was washed away by floodwaters in the 1982 disaster which killed 299 people, but was later restored using the recovered stones.

It was noon and we decided to stop by Shinchi Chinatown for lunch.

Nagasaki Chinatown, also known as Shinchi Chinatown, is Japan's oldest chinatown. It was established as early as the 17th century, due to the fact that Nagasaki's port remained the country's only major port opened to Chinese trade during the era of isolation. Over the centuries, the residents of Shinchi Chinatown have bestowed the city of Nagasaki with a Chinese flair not felt in any other of Japan's major cities. Today, Nagasaki's chinatown is best known for its restaurants and their two most famous local noodle dishes, champon and sara udon. Restaurants typically open between 11:00 and 15:00 for lunch and from 17:00 to 21:00 for dinner.

The Chinatown seemed so different from the ones in Singapore and Malaysia.

We chanced upon a stall selling steamed buns

We bought a few and tried. Not too bad.

There were a few restaurants to choose. A few famous ones were recommended some travelogues. We didn't select any particular ones but just entered one which had decent number of customers in there.

One of the Champon dishes (above picture) and Sara Udon (below picture). Both were "must-try" local specialties.

Below is Seafood Champon

Time for ice-cream after a sumptuous meal.

We ate too full and had to walk around a fair bit. We headed towards Dejima.

Tram tracks outside Dejima

Dejima was a man-made island in the port of Nagasaki, constructed in 1636 to segregate Portuguese residents from the Japanese population and control their missionary activities. A few years later, the Portuguese were expelled from Japan, and the Dutch Trading Station, formerly located in Hirado, was moved to Dejima. The Dutch were restricted to Dejima during Japan's two centuries of isolation as the only remaining Westerners allowed in the country. Today, Dejima is not an island anymore, as the surrounding area has been reclaimed in the 20th century. However, a number of Dejima's historical structures remain, have been or are being reconstructed in the area, including various residences, warehouses, walls and gates. The ultimate goal is to convert Dejima back into an island by digging canals around all its four sides.

Ōura Church (大浦天主堂 Ōura Tenshudō) is a Roman Catholic minor basilica in Nagasaki, Japan, built soon after the end of the Japanese government's Seclusion Policy in 1853. It is also known as the Church of the 26 Japanese Martyrs. It was for many years the only Western-style building declared a national treasure, and is said to be the oldest church in Japan.

Glover Garden (グラバー園 Gurabāen) is a park in Nagasaki, Japan built for Thomas Blake Glover, a Scottish merchant who contributed to the modernization of Japan in shipbuilding, coal mining, and other fields. In it stands the Glover Residence, the oldest Western style house surviving in Japan and Nagasaki's foremost tourist attraction. It is located on the Minamiyamate hillside overlooking Nagasaki harbor. It was built by Hidenoshin Koyama of Amakusa island and completed in 1863. It has been designated as an Important Cultural Asset. As the house and its surroundings are reminiscent of Puccini's opera, it is also known as the "Madame Butterfly House." Statues of Puccini and diva Miura Tamaki, famed for her role as Cio-Cio-san, stand in the park near the house. This house was also the venue of Glover's meetings with rebel samurai particularly from the Chōshū and Satsuma domains.

Oranda-zaka ("Dutch slope") refers to the steep streets of a pleasant hillside residential area of Nagasaki. Western merchants, most notably from the Netherlands, settled in the area in the second half of the 19th century. The former residences of several Western merchants are exhibited in the nearby Glover Garden open air museum.

Soon it was late afternoon, and we decided to explore Haman-machi mall, which was near to where we stayed, and to settle dinner there.

Nagasaki Haman-machi mall is Nagasaki’s largest shopping area, with around 700 shops, including Daimaru and Hamaya department stores, large-scale electrical stores, drugstores and other specialist shops.

When we arrived at the mall, we were famished and chose a not-so-expensive restaurant to have sushi for dinner. The experience was quite similar to back home in Singapore.

Mission accomplished. Time to calculate the bill.

Shopping time before we retired back to the apartment for the night of 12th.

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13-December-2016

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We set-off in the early morning for a half-day tour (organised by Gunkanjima Concierge Company) to the Gunkanjima - Hashima Island ( 軍鑑島 ) or better known as the Battleship Island.

Gunkanjima is a small island located about 20 kilometers from Nagasaki Port. Until 1974, the island served as a coal mine, and more than 5000 residents called the 480 meter long, 150 meter wide island home, resulting in the highest population density in history recorded worldwide. To accommodate so many people in such a small area, every piece of land was built up so that the island came to resemble a massive battleship. In fact, "Gunkanjima" is a nickname that means "battleship island" in Japanese. The island's formal name is Hashima. Coal was first discovered on Gunkanjima in 1810 by the feudal lord of Saga. Industrial mining began in the late 1800s, and soon after, the island was purchased by the Mitsubishi Corporation. As production increased, the island was expanded, and large residential and industrial buildings and high sea walls were constructed. Managers, workers and their families all called the little island home. The residents of the island were able to live out a more or less typical life. Half of the island was devoted to the workings of the mine, the other to residential space, schools, restaurants, shops, a public bath and a hospital. In April 1974, the mine was closed, and its residents had to leave Gunkanjima, abandoning the island with all its buildings. Over the years since then, direct exposure to typhoons has caused the residences and mining facilities to deteriorate, giving the island an eerie and haunting atmosphere. Due to the danger of collapsing structures, Gunkanjima was closed to the public, and for many years could only be seen from sightseeing cruises that circled the island.

We arrived much earlier than the scheduled reporting time at the Gunkanjima Concierge Company office. We went for breakfast at this eating house (right next to the office).

We attended a short briefing at the office. Pending sea condition, we might not be able to make landfall on the island.

Finally it was time to set off. We boarded a ferry which will get us onto the island in less than an hour's sea ride.

You can see the above map on where Gunkanjima-Hashima Island is, relative to Nagasaki harbour. The ferry passed by some attractions along the way.

Megamio Bridge (長崎女神大橋)

Kanoshima Church ( カトリック神ノ島教会)

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Koyagi Repair Dock (KRD) (三菱重工 長崎造船所 香焼工場)

And finally the ferry circumnavigated the Gunkanjima to allow us to take landscape shots of the island. It was raining and the sea was quite rough.

Finally the ferry got closer to the island.

We made landfall!

It was cold, windy and raining on a >60 years deserted island.

The guides from Gunkanjima Concierge Company gave their explanations of what we were seeing but all in Japanese language. Luckily we were given explanation devices where we listened to the English version of the explanations through ear phones.

Not everyone was interested in old dilapidated buildings.

We were not alone. There were a few resident eagles on the island.

That was it. This was how close we got to any part of the ruins on the island . There were only three designated spots on the island which were opened to visitors and they must be guided by authorities. For safety reasons, we could not wander inside the buildings and these old structures might not be structurally sound.

It was time to leave the island and return back to Nagasaki.