DAY 70 - Nagasaki, Japan

March 7, 2024

Today was a tough one.  This is the city where the second atomic bomb was dropped to end the Second World War in the Pacific theater.  But we saw neither anger nor fear in the people or in the rebuilding of the city.  Mistakes were made.... and lessons learned. It is really a beautiful setting for a city. Nagasaki is supposed to have one of the most beautiful skylines at night after New York and Shanghai.  But we did miss that....

Our first stop today was where the Dutch East India Company had their home in Japan.  It was their own little man made island with a single bridge going in and out. Because of their isolationism, this was the only trading contact Japan had with Europe. It has been partially restored and they continue to work to excavate and bring more back. A model of the city as it was in the 1600's until the Dutch left is behind us.





Our next stop was at Peace Park... an area dedicated to the lives lost from the atomic bomb.  We then walked a couple hundred yards to the spot that was shown to be ground zero - figured out because of the concentric circles of destruction facing outward.  The bomb exploded about 500 yards above ground at that point.





We then went to one of the mountain views of the city on a "rope train".




Sadly we learned that when the atomic bomb was dropped, it missed the intended target area.  It was supposed to be dropped in the port/industrial area where all the ships were being built and had military and strategic importance. Instead it was off by about one mile and hit in the middle of the most populated area of the city (second picture).



A nice evening cruise out of the port with some beautiful scenery.







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