Nagasaki - the Atomic Bomb Museum, Glover Garden and Japan's best yakitori
Trip Diary Day 22 - 20 April 2019
Check out Episode 17 of our Epic Family Road Trip Across Japan.
Nagasaki - coffee then coffee and then coffee again
We had breakfast in our room as per normal but this time we had a coffee making kit supplied by the hostel with coffee beans from a local supplier. I ground the coffee with manual crank handled grinder and then poured hot water over the fresh grounds in a figure 8 just like the instructions told me to. The coffee was superb. I don’t usually like filter or drip coffee. It usually tastes too watery. I’m an espresso kind of guy. But this was quite good. Achievement unlocked.
Coffee done it was time for coffee. We’d heard good things about Komekoya Coffee Stand and it was only a couple of stops away by tram. On our way down to the tram we passed another coffee shop, NGS Coffee, so I thought, why not, and ordered a latte. NGS Coffee is diagonally opposite Nagasaki JR station. The TV network, NHK, are on the other corner. You can’t miss it. It has a giant TV tower on top of the building. The coffee was excellent but we decided to go on to Komekoya Coffee Stand anyway.
Komekoya Coffee Stand was only a couple of tram stops away. It was a beautiful warm sunny day so why walk when you can ride a tram. The weather was taking a turn for the warm. Kyushu was getting hotter everyday. So far on this trip we survived sub zero cold and snow to balmy almost 30 degree days, and everything in between. Most excellent coffee. 450 yen (AU$5.50) each. The kids had cupcakes. I also had a peach cake. Three excellent coffees in one day and some sweet cakes. A great start to Nagasaki.
Public Transport in Nagasaki
After that we were going to catch the tram the the A bomb museum but I thought a day pass would be better value than buying tickets each time we ride, so I rushed into the Urakami JR station, next door to Komekoya, and bought two adult day passes and a child pass for 500 (AU$6) and 250 yen (AU$3) respectively. We expected to catch a few trams today so it was way better value even though a full fare was only 130 yen ($AU1.60) for an adult and 70 (AU$0.85) for a child. Not to mention not having to fumble around for coins. Unfortunately Nagasaki was one of the cities that didn’t accept our IC cards. But the day passes were excellent value anyway. I still can’t believe public transport in Japan is so cheap. Paying less than $2 for a ride is inconceivable. I think we rarely pay less than 4 bucks at home in Melbourne.
Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum
The Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum very moving, very emotional. It encapsulates perfectly what happened on that terrible day at 11.02 am on the 9th of August 1945. On display are many artifacts, photos, videos and stories. It isn’t hard to empathise with average Nagasaki residents in the Summer of 1945. We’d taken the kids on our visit to the Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Museum a few years ago but they were a little young to really understand what had happened. This time Georgia was old enough to read the stories herself. Brandy looked at the photos and watched the videos. They were drawn to the heartbreaking stories of the children.
A foreign film crew was filming in the museum while we were there. News or documentary, I couldn’t tell. The talent, Candice, probably American from her accent, would pose in front of a display, look serious for the camera then move on. At one point the crew asked her to pose in front of one particular display for a reaction shot and she said “I can’t look at it”. Jesus. Our kids were watching and understood what was going on. They were a bit nonplussed at her reaction. If you’re going to tell the story about a place the least you could do would be look at the displays so you relate the story to your audience. Some of the displays were confronting. They depict a confronting day.
We went to the Peace Memorial hall for some quite contemplation. The names of the 70000 victims are written in registers there.
Should you take young children? Well that is up to you. We don’t regret take our pair. A year later Georgia and Brandy will sometimes mention one of the stories of one of the children who survived. It is important to remember. If enough of the children remember maybe it won’t happen again. Maybe.
The day had warmed some more so we definitely needed a drink from a vending machine in the lobby of the museum. The nearby peace park was next on the agenda. The peace park has a memorial fountain and a large statue. The Peace Park is near the hypocentre of the bomb blast, ground zero, and contains the remnants of what was the one of the largest Cathedrals in East Asia. There are other statues dedicated to peace dotted around the park donated by various cities and countries around the world.
More coffee
The day wasn’t getting any cooler so we didn’t want to stay long. The kids were tired and needed a break so stopped at a Lawson to get sandwiches, fried chicken and a chicken skewer and then went back to Komekoya Coffee Stand for iced lattes. We sat outside Komekoya and enjoyed a couple of really good iced lattes. Really good. Served by the same young man, Kyohei, that served us earlier.
You’d think that that would be enough excitement for one day. But due to limited time and bad planning we only had a full day in Nagasaki so we had to cram in as much as possible. By cram I mean food. And some site seeing I suppose.
Nagasaki Castella Cake
Due to the fact that we had a convenient train station near by we caught a train back to JR Nagasaki. In the shopping centre at Nagasaki station is a cake shop selling the local specialty cake - Nagasaki Castella Cake. Castella cakes are a type of sponge cake similar to the Portuguese Madeira cakes. Which isn’t a coincidence. Castella cakes were originally brought to Nagasaki by Portuguese traders, so yay Portugal. They also brought Christianity, so boo Portugal. Much of Nagasaki’s sweets and confectionery was influenced by the Portuguese. A few years ago we were in Coimbra, Portugal, at a sweet shop, and it was inundated by a bus load of Japanese tourists looking for a particular sweet called confeites. My Portuguese is as bad as my Japanese but I think confeites means confectionery. They proceeded to buy it in quantities that would probably tip my carry-on luggage limit over the top. Thanks for the tip Japanese tourists. Those sweet sugary sweets were delicious. So yes, Portugal and Japan have a long shared history of sweet treats. I wonder if that’s why they’re my two favourite countries?
Insert this picture from Instagram here https://www.instagram.com/p/BQMKBTGFtX3/
Pastelaria Briosa in Coimbra
So where were we? Ah yes, wandering around a railway station shopping centre looking for a cake shop. It didn’t look like a cake shop though and that was part of the reason we’d missed it at first. It is a souvenir shop that is the front for Fukusaya the cake makers. Fukusaya are cake suppliers to the royal family. We bought a couple of little cake cube souvenirs. The cakes come in sliced and diced in various ways. Tiny little cubes to large boxes of a kilo or so of cake. Mostly they come in 30 cm cardboard boxes. The perfect gift for the family back home. If you can resist opening it. A few of the Japanese specialty supermarkets back in Melbourne sell Nagasaki Castella cakes and we’ve since discovered our local fruit and veg shop sells them as well. If you think that means we don’t have to come back to Nagasaki then you’d be wrong in your thinking.
Then back on the tram to historic Dejima.
Dejima and the Hollander Slope
Dejima was originally a Portuguese and then a Dutch trading post in Nagasaki. The island was the only place where foreigners in Nagasaki could live and trade back in the Edo period. Whenever we mention something old I guess it is Edo because usually everything dates back to the Edo period. And it turns out my guess was correct. It was the Edo period. It was the only place foreigners were allowed to trade. The actual island, not the period. The place in that period period. Nowadays the island has reproductions of the historic buildings from the 19th Century, museums and cafes.
It was near 5.30 when we arrived and the place closed at 6 so we didn’t bother going in. We could see a few westerners strolling around dressed in period costumes. Mostly kimonos. We kept walking to the Hollander Slope and the Dutch houses. Western style houses built in the 19th Century. They called them the Dutch houses because the Japanese referred to most Westerners as Dutch, but by the middle of the 19th century they could be from anywhere though. Except if they were actually Dutch. Then they were from Holland. The Dutch had a special trading relationship with the Shogunate during the Edo period. The Portuguese came to spread Christianity, the Dutch came to trade. The Dutch helped the Japanese put down a rebellion by Portuguese inspired Japanese Christians. There were a lot of Dutch sailors there at the time though. During the seclusion period Japan only traded with China and the Dutch.
Because we arrived on Hollander Hill late in the afternoon most of the houses that can be visited were closed. From the outside I thought they looked like Queenslanders. You wouldn’t think Queensland could be contributor to the world of architectural style would you? I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to visit a Queenslander if I was in Brisbane, so it was pretty boring. Sorry Nagasaki, I guess I’m just not into old Western style homes. There are some lovely views out over the bay from the hill though. We went to Glover Garden.
Glover Garden and more cake
Glover Garden is a large garden and park area on the side of the hill overlooking Nagasaki Harbour. There is a fantastic view from the top. On the way we noticed that there were lots of uniformed sailors in town. They looked like Russian uniforms but it was hard to tell. There were a couple of large tall ships in dock so I think they crewed those.
There is a street of souvenir shops at the base of the hill leading up to the gardens. It was near 6 and most were closing. We stopped at one of the cake shops conveniently handing out samples of castella cake. Why yes, thank you very much I will try one. And that, what flavour is that? The green looks tasty, I’ll try that too. And yes please, the orange one as well. So we bought three boxes of cakes. Chocolate, cheese and orange for about 1200 yen ($AU14). They were so moist and delicious. Next there was a pudding shop that was just closing up but I was able to buy a pudding. Dessert was sorted. Nagasaki Minami Yamate Pudding
We rushed up the hill to some stairs leading to the Glover Gardens. Surprisingly the ticket office was still open so we bought tickets and jumped on the escalators to the top. I recommend any garden by escalator. Climbing stairs is overrated. The view from the top was amazing. Nagasaki Harbour reminds me a little of Sydney Harbour but more compact and picturesque. The setting sun gave everything a golden glow. The old house at the top is grand and the view from the second floor balcony was great. The house, a mansion really, is the oldest western style building in Nagasaki. Glover Garden is named for Thomas Glover, a Scottish merchant and boat builder, who helped with the modernisation of Japanese ship industry. The pond in the front of the house was full of Koi.
We ducked out the back gate of the garden to a lookout and observation deck for more Nagasaki view photos. Technically you’re not supposed to leave the garden and come back in but it was late so I don’t think anyone cared. We meandered down the paths of the gardens to the exit. We stopped at various points of interest or views for photos. We found Giacomo Puccini and the Madam Butterfly statues. The people of Lucca had donated the statue as a peace and goodwill gesture. I’d forgotten that the opera Madam Butterfly was based in Nagasaki. I spent the rest of the afternoon with operatic ear worms. A few cottages and houses on the way down were formerly owned by 19th century business men who had soft drink or shipping companies in Nagasaki. Now all are preserved by the local government. It would be funnier if the government had preserved the business men.
Sumibi Yakitori Torimasa Ebisucho
We caught a tram to the Meganebashi bridge then walked to the Yakitori restaurant, Sumibi Yakitori Torimasa Ebisucho, and proceeded to consume about 30 skewers of some very finest yakitori we’ve had. Mostly chicken but also pork, fish, squid, and peppers. We had chicken heart, thighs, cartilage, neck skin. Beef tongue with miso, pork, and local salami like ham. All fantastic. With ginger ale for Brandy and Asahi Dry for me. The cheapest yakitori skewer was about 120 yen (AU$1.50) the most expensive, chicken breast and the ham, were about 220 (AU$2.70) each. All this for an amazing 5312 yen (AU$65). It was one of those times you not really sure how much it is going to cost so you try to limit the number of skewers you order. Then you see the bill and think that was way cheaper than I expected. Maybe we should’ve had another dozen or so skewers?
恵美須町店｜店舗案内｜炭火焼鳥『鳥政』（とりまさ） (torimasa.net)
We had a private room/table just off to the side of the main restaurant. Only a couple of metres from the grill though. It was one of the sunken floor tables. You’re sitting on the floor but your feet dangle in a hole. The main BBQ was in the centre of the restaurant and it was surrounded by counter seats. The smells coming from the BBQ were outstanding.
We walked home via the Lawson close to the Petit Hostel.
You’re kidding? More coffee?
We retrieved our washing from the rooftop clothesline and came down and had the coffee I made this morning with cold milk. Aficionados would call it an iced coffee. Quite delicious. I wrote thank you message and drew a picture in the guest book. I took a photo of it because art like that needs preserving. It had been a good busy day. Tomorrow we were going to drive to Kobe. Google estimated it would take eight 8 and half hours. I reckon we’d have to add at least two hours to that.
The coffee shop opens at 8 so I hoped to be there by then. I set the alarm for 6.30. I’ll probably keep hitting the snooze button though. We had to get to Kobe reasonably early to get some decent Kobe beef somewhere. Why were we going to stop at Kobe? I’ve already mentioned the beef. That’s enough. Really though it is because it is a little over half way to Tokyo from Nagasaki. It is shitty that it is such a long drive but oh well. I blame whoever came up with our itinerary. We’d considered renting the car one way from Narita and then leaving the car in Nagasaki. Then we would’ve caught the Shinkansen back to Tokyo. But the one way rental surcharge would have been close to AU$800 and Shinkansen was horribly expensive and may have cost around AU$800 as well. So it was cheaper for us to return the car to Narita and take a leisurely two day drive of 1300 km. Japan is bigger than many people expect. It is about 1300 km to drive from Adelaide to Sydney or Paris to Madrid or Nairobi to Kigali. Japan isn’t a little island with a bunch of volcanoes you can drive across in a day. Well not length ways. We did in fact drive across in the equivalent of day’s drive back when we drove from Narita to Kanazawa.
Epic Family Road Trip Japan on Youtube
Check out Episode 17 of our Epic Family Road Trip Across Japan.
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