Inside nagasaki ferry terminal

The inverted, truncated, cone section of the Nagasaki ferry terminal is a large open space lit by strong, natural, light from the roof.

Designed by Shimane-born architect Shin Takamatsu, it reminds me a lot of another of his building, the Public Spa at Tamatsukuri Onsen (which I haven't posted yet)

Nagasaki Ferry Terminal

As we walked towards the new Nagasaki Ferry terminal to catch the tour boat to Battleship island, I had a sneaking suspicion it was a Shin Takamatsu design.

It had all the hallmarks of his work,.... metal, concrete, glass, simple platonic solids, often with spaces cut out...., and a certain whimsy I appreciate in his work.

Sure enough, I was right, it was designed by him and built in 1995.

I have photos of two other ferry terminals designed by him, at Shichirui, and Sakaiminato,.... I will post them soon....

The best part of this structure was the inside, and photos of that I will post tomorrow.

Confucian Shrine

In Nagasaki you are never far from the influence of China, and nowhere is this more obvious than at the Confucian Shrine.

Built in 1893 by Chinese residents of Nagasaki it is reputed to be the only Confucian shrine outside China actually built by Chinese.

It was badly damaged in the A Bomb blast and did not reopen until 1967, though extensive renovations in 1982 brought it to its current vivid glory.

Behind the shrine is the Museum of Chinese History and Culture, and entry to it is included in the entrance fee to the shrine. The museum's collection is quite large and varied with many of the exhibits on loan from the National Museum in China.

A statue of Confucius is the center of worship in the colorful main building of the shrine, and 72 white statues line the entrance.

Oura Catholic Church

Established in 1864 during the closing years of the Edo period, Oura Church was built by the French in Nagasaki to dedicate prayers for the 26 Martyrs of Nishizaka Hill, the place where 26 European and Japanese Christians were brought to Nagasaki and crucified in 1597 to discourage Japanese from becoming Christian following Hideyoshi's edict of 1587 banning Christianity in Japan.

A few days after the church opened a group of Japanese "Hidden Christians" appeared and introduced themselves to the French priest. These people had been secretly practising Christianity since the late 16th Century. I posted earlier about what was done to some of these hidden christians as Christianity was still banned in 1865.

The stained glass was installed in the early years of the twentieth Century, and while the church survived the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, most of the stained glass did not. However it has been replaced with glass from the same period.

Oura Church is the only western building to be listed as a National Treasure.

Oura Church served as the model for the Catholic Church in Tsuwano.

There is a 300 yen entrance fee to enter the church, and photography inside is banned, but I guess my camera accidentally took some pictures all by itself without my knowledge.

Spectacles Bridge

Found this draincover in central Nagasaki, not far from the bridge depicted in the design.

Its name, Meganebashi, means "spectacles bridge", for obvious reasons, and it is believed to be the oldest stone arch bridge in Japan. It was built in 1634 by a Chinese monk from the nearby Chinese temple, Kofuku-Ji.

The buttresses of the central section of the bridge are covered in coins. I can only imagine that it is done for good luck.

There are a total of ten stone bridges along the section of the Nakashima River that runs through central Nagasaki. During a major flood in 1982, 6 of them were destroyed. Badly damaged, all the original stones of Megane Bashi were found and so the bridge could be restored.

On Battleship Island

Since Gunkanjima re-opened to visitors last year the tours have proved to be very popular. I was lucky to get the very last seat. The part of the island that is open is at the industrial end, and visitors are fenced in and herded by guides.

 

When inhabited the island had schools, a hospital, a temple, shrine, a brothel, cinema, and a pachinko parlor. All things that are needed for a civilized life. However absolutely everything had to be shipped in from the mainland including all the fresh water.

 

The guides give plenty of explanations and information (in japanese only), and the island has applied for World Heritage status, but they would need to make an effort to make information available in English. Of course there is a part of Gunkanjima's history that the guides don't mention.

 

During the last years of the war the mine, like most mines in Japan at that time, was worked by slaves, mostly Korean and Chinese. The slaves were of course not paid, and the regulations for controlling the slaves called for "extreme camp security, inferior clothing, overcrowded sleeping quarters, primitive sanitation with no bathing facilities, limited medical care, and minimal amounts of the poorest quality food—which was to be withheld as necessary to ensure discipline." Obviously, the death rate was very high.

 

While some Japanese companies that used slave labor have apologised and paid compensation, Mitsubishi, probably the company that benefited most from slave labor, have absolutely refused to pay anything, and their continued denials make for a sad indictment of Japanese corporate greed, though the main thrust of their argument is that to admit to it would saddle Japan with "a mistaken burden of the soul" for hundreds of years. An excellent article on the subject is here

 To make the place a World heritage Site without dealing with this unsavory episode of its history would be a mistake, I think.

Shots of the island from the boat are in this earlier post

Battleship Island: The ultimate haikyo

Gunkanjima (Battleship island) is the nickname of Hashima, a very small uninhabited island about 15k from Nagasaki. Why that is its nickname should be obvious from this first photo.

 

Originally much smaller than its current size, at the end of the 19th Century coal was discovered under the island and Mitsubishi began mining. As rock was brought up from the tunnel digging it was used to expand the island and protect it with a big sea wall.

 

At the mine's peak in the late 1950's the island had a population of 5,300 people, which translates to a density of 216,264 people per square mile, certainly among the highest in the world.

 

In 1974 the mine closed and all the people moved off, and the buildings began to crumble. Incidentally, Japans first large concrete building, a 9 storey apartment block was built here.

 

There are regular tour boats from Nagasaki that circle the island, and since 2009 there have been tours that actually visit the island, though only a small section, fenced off, is currently accessible, but the plan is to extend the accessible sections. Photos from on the island tomorrow.

 

Fans of the 2012 James Bond movie "Skyfall" may think they recognize the island, and in fact it was used as a model for the lair of the villain Raoul Silva, but it was filmed on a lot at the studio in London.

Early morning at Sofuku-Ji

Just got back from a great, but hectic, weekend down in Nagasaki.

Early this morning we visited Sofuku-Ji, a Chinese Buddhist temple.

The low morning sun created some great shadows.....

Built in 1629 by Chinese residents of Nagasaki. It is now a temple of the Obaku sect of Japanese Zen Buddhism.

21 of the buildings and statues are "cultural assets", and there are 2 National Treasures, one of which is the Main Hall which was made in China and shipped over to be erected by 1649.

It looks and feels more Chinese than Japanese, and I will post more later...

Yamanobenomichi

The Yamanobenomichi (the road along the base of the mountains) has the distinction of being the oldest road mentioned in Japanese historical records, the Kojiki and Nihonshoki, as well as being mentioned in many poems in the Manyoshu. What is left of it runs from approximately Tenri to Sakurai in Nara Prefecture.

Sections of the route are footpaths, and sections are on quiet village roads. There is no real up and downs and so it can be walked pleasantly in a day.

There are masses of historical sites along the way. Many of the shrines I've already posted about here, including the major shrines of Isonokami and Omiwa, as well as lots of interesting smaller shrines including the Sumo Shrine where legend has it the first human sumo match took place.

A lot of the temples in the area were razed in the early Meiji Period, but there are several along the way including Chogaku-Ji.

There are also many burial mounds including some large ones like the Hashihaka Kofun. In the Meiji period the government went around and ascribed Imperial ancestors to all these tombs and built torii on them as part of the new State Shinto, but historians generally have differing histories to them. Many now believe that Hashihaka is Himikos Tomb.

You would probably want to bring your own lunch/picnic as there are not a lot of facilities along the way,... some vending machines and maybe farmers stalls selling fruit. The small settlements are very quiet and rustic, in fact the whole route is a very pleasant, quiet, relaxing break from the buzz and hubbub of nearby Nara and Kyoto.

Not actually on the route, but at one of the places you would leave the route to head back to the station in sakurai is the biggest torii in Japan. Built in 1986 to commemorate a visit by the Emperor, the black steel torii rises 32.2 metres, eclipsing the previous biggest torii at Yasakuni.