April 24, 2009

• Nagasaki Sailing Ship Festival

  We are on our way to Nagasaki to see the Sailing Ship Festival! 

  

  The train to Nagasaki runs on a single track, so sometimes we have to stop at a local station to let the train coming from the opposite direction pass by.  This group is probably day care, and the kiddies are out for a walk.  They stop to watch the trains go by and wave goodbye when we pull out. 

  

  Here we are at Nagasaki Station.  The last time I was here there was a Christmas Tree going up.  This time we have a dragon.

  

  Here is a Nagasakian manhole with a hydrangea design.

  

  Here is a dish from Nagasaki - "Sara Udon Hosomen"  The noodles are fried to a crisp and topped with meat, shrimp, squid and veggies.  It's delicious.

  

  Here is another dish from Nagasaki called "Turukoraisu" or Turkish Rice.  I did not try this, so I can't tell you what it tastes like.  This is a plastic sample, anyway. 

  

  Lunch is over and before going to see the sailing ships there is a stop to make.  Turn left at the end of this street.  Oh, what's that yellow sign on the left side of the street?

  

  Another fried noodle place with hhuuggee servings!  I wonder how many people one platter of these noodles would serve?

  

  I like to take pics of things in a line.  These are all plastic models, too.

  This memorial was a place that I had visited with Sonny B when he was in junior high, and I wanted to refresh my memory by going again.  The foreign missionaries and Japanese Christians were, as the sign states, arrested in Kyoto and Osaka and made to walk all the way to Nagasaki, a feat in itself.  Nagasaki had become a "Rome of the Orient" of sorts, and the Japanese government decided that it needed to protect itself from the politics that was coming in along with Christianity.  It was a tragic period of history.

  

  

  This memorial depicts the 26 martyrs.

   

  Three of them were children.

  

  

  

  Relics of some of the martyrs.  I was a bit surprised to see these, as I have read that any remains were thrown into the ocean to prevent their being venerated.

  

  I wonder if it is genuine.  I have heard that if all the supposed pieces of the cross were collected that one could build Noah's ark.  It would be interesting if it was real, though.

  

  This box is said to contain cloth with the blood of the martyrs.

  

  This Pieta was probably used as a fumie, a picture that one had to trample to prove that one was not a believer.

  

  Here are a couple of pictures that depict what the Christians who refused to apostatize had to suffer - beheading, burning at the stake and hanging upside down with one's head in a pit.

  

  

  More supposed relics

  

  This was taken from the second floor of the martyr's museum.

  

  This is a box in which a Christian would be imprisoned.  One can neither lay down or stand up.

  

  Seen from outside the museum - a Buddhist graveyard and a statue of Kannon

  

  This is St. Phillip's church that stands to the right of the memorial.  The builder was influenced by Antonio Gaudi, designer of the Church of the Holy Family in Barcelona.

  

  Inside the church

  

  The stained glass window at the front of the sanctuary.

  

  A crucifix inside the church

  

  The back of the museum is done in mosaic, as is the outside of the church.

  

  Let's take a closer look...

  

  Hey, the mosaic is made of dishes!!

  Now on to the main event and the reason for this trip to Nagasaki, a sailing ship festival!

  

  There were two Russian ships.

  

  Some boats of more modern vintage were parked across the harbor.

  

  The harbor was very windy, and I was thankful for the advice from the lady at the local cleaners.  She said that we would need warm jackets, and she was right!

  

  

  The Japanese ship across the harbor is unfurling its sails.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  This black ship is running with a motor.

  

  Like I said, the wind was strong.

  

  

  The fellow on gaurd said it was all right to take a picture of the modern facilities aboard.

  

  

  Let's go for a closer look at the Japanese ship.

  

  All of the sails are unfurled, but there are two tugboats pulling at the sides of the ship to compensate for the wind and keep the ship from falling over.

  

  

  A smaller Chinese style ship

  

  

  The crew of the Japanese ship is going to secure the sails.  They gather up the sails with ropes from below, and lower some of the yardarms.

  

  Up to furl the sails, that is after doing the proper exercises, of course.

  

  On top - You would NEVER catch me up there!

  

  

  Just about finished...

  Our next stop will be Suwa Shrine.

  This is Suwa Shrine, another place that we had not been able to get to on previous visits to Nagasaki.

  

  As with everywhere in Nagasaki, let's start climbing the stairs!

  

  Still climbing...

  

  Still climbing!

  

  This is the view from under the large straw rope.

  

  Now look down at the long staircase that you have just climbed.  The open space below is the scene of a really big show every year, the Nagasaki Kunchi, complete with singing, dancing and floats!  I have not seen this personally, but here is a You Tube bit of the performance.  These stairs become bleachers for the audience.

  

  These portable shrines are also carried around during the Kunchi.  Here is the "reflective"

  

  and the non reflective version.

  

  The shrine proper, with instructions on "proper worship."

  

  Bow twice, clap twice, bow once.  I guess some people don't know the rountine.

  

  Here is another smaller shrine behind and to the right of Suwa Shrine.

  

  This rock is an object of worship.  It seems that many years ago it protected the folks living below from a landslide.

  

  Foxes are the gaurdians of the shrine.

  

  Let's take a last look at the buildings and exit left to see the oldest fountain in Japan.

  

  Our last stop is below.

  

  Got that?

  

  

  

  

  Here are some other bridges over the same river.

  

  Now we are back at Nagasaki Station ready to catch the train home.  In a store window we see some sweets in the shape of carp, a symbol of strength and a popular decoration for Children's Day, May 5.

  • 19:00
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