These two days mark the end of the 52nd week and the year of a “weight bet” I had going with a friend, where we would weigh in every morning and pay money according to how far above our target weights were. Not only did I fall far short of my goal, but I’ve actually been gaining weight week on week for five consecutive weeks. These first couple days in Japan have been depressing unless I want to reconsider a career as a sumo wrestler. Despite the fact that Japanese customs looked at me askance (“Why are you carrying a bathroom scale?”), I am glad to have the daily reminder (apart from my wallet) to take things in moderation.
It’s a good thing I am staying at a guesthouse with a healthy turn of backpackers. I learned that Japan has a golden week coming up, and not just the normal golden week, but a super long one because of the impending abdication of the Japanese emperor and coronation of the new one. The entire country is going to have 10 consecutive days of public holidays. I’ve gotten the next 5 or so days figured out with booked accommodation, but I have to really plan things out so I am not caught somewhere unable to get a ticket or a bed.
I spent most of the morning hanging around the guesthouse and went to check out SIM cards at a couple shops, then grabbed a sushi platter lunch special from a fancy restaurant. Afterwards, I caught a streetcar up to Peace Park. I was supposed to meet up with a couple of other backpackers, but because of Internet issues, we couldn’t get in touch. I waited around for a while, enjoying the beauty of spring and its on the nose metaphor of rebirth while steeling my nerves for the museum.
I passed by the hypocenter of the blast on the way to the museum, which to be honest I was glad to go through alone, though there were tons of children (not necessarily running around, but asking lots of questions). It was rough, but I channeled my guilt and grief into fury and fire. You cannot be qualified to hold the nuclear launch codes unless you have visited at least one of the two sites and borne witness to its horror. On one of the final exhibits tallying the number of atomic bomb tests per year/per country (which I guess we should be grateful has dropped significantly since the end of the cold war, apart from some random flurries of tests by India, Pakistan, and China in the 90s), they had to repeatedly put stickers updating North Korea’s stats. I want to know whose job that is and what they feel about it.
I was surprised by the number of tour groups of … let’s say older… Americans. I later learned that the Queen Elizabeth was docked on a port of call, so it made sense in retrospect as the excursion of choice. After visiting the Memorial Hall and rooftop garden, I meandered back towards the streetcar stop, but decided to walk after seeing how crowded it was.
I had half a mind to swing by another park with a memorial to the 26 Christian martyrs, but was a little pressed for time to rendezvous at the train station at 5 pm for a journey to the observation deck of Inasayama to watch the sunset and see bay at night. The group of us, composed of two Americans and two Germans, were of half a mind to walk the hour to the top, but took a bus most of the way and followed the “trail” to the top. Mainly because we didn’t want to shell out 1000 yen for a cable car ticket. There was a pen of deer and a pit of monkeys between the bus stop and the trail, which is a little bonus for the people willing to put in a bit of exertion. Unfortunately, due to construction, the footpath was closed, so we had to walk along the road. The observation tower sits with three radio towers on top of a 333m hill where we can look down on Nagasaki to the East and the Sea of Japan to the west. It was gorgeous. There was a “light show” with music (the official theme song of the Nagasaki Inasayama radio tower light show) and though the city itself didn’t have anything particularly special in its night scenery, it was beautiful nonetheless under the nearly full moon.
It was chilly, and we headed down and caught a bus back to our neighborhood, heading directly to a well-known dumpling restaurant. We ate a bunch, and I did not join the rest of the party in celebratory beers, either on the mountain, in the restaurant, or back in the guesthouse. I hung out and continued laughing and chatting with them until about 10:30, when I decided to call it quits and head to bed.
| Sushi Set Meal | 1080 |
| Tram | 130 |
| Entrance Ticket | 200 |
| Milk Soda | 160 |
| Bus tickets | 180+220 |
| Monkey Food | 100 |
| Gyoza | 1460 |
| Total: | 3530 JPY (225.9 RMB) (USD 33.8) |
Running Total: 22293.9 RMB (USD 3331)
Daily Average: 278.7 RMB (USD 41.6)