NAGASAKI, Day 1

Complete pictures at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=10241&id=611670904

Does anyone update their blog anymore? lol (except for the girls i mean)
Me and mum travelled to Nagasaki last week. It was just for few days but i really enjoyed the place. If u get the chance, I highly recommend it ;)

so... this is Day 1 (Oct 9th, Tuesday)

Nagasaki is about 2hours flight from Tokyo, and me n mum almost missed the plane n we got on 5min before the plane took off. phew!
I'm not going into details but rest assured that it wasn't my fault!!!

So we arrive at Nagasaki. unfortunately it was pouring down rain, because of the typhoon approaching. That ain't mean we ain't going sightseeing!! No time to waste my time (what?) just because it's pouring down rain til you can't hear what the other person is speaking although they are right next to you.


So! we first head off to Dejima! This area is an artificial island made during the Edo period (1603 to 1867), and it was the sole trading post that Japan had with the outside world during Edo period when Japan self-imposed isolation. It was mainly a Dutch trading post, so this island (quite small in size, 120 by 75 metres) portrays mixtures of Japanese and Western cultures.
the view of Dejima



This is a reconstruction of what a Dutch trade captain's house would have looked like in Dejima. I love how it's Westernised but the floor is tatami (traditional Jap floor made out of straw). love to have a room like this.
The dining room



(The noise you hear on the movie clip is from the rain. Thus you can imagine how heavy the rain was. And yes as you would imagine our shoes and pants were soaking wet. Thank god we brought umbrellas with us from Tokyo!)


We caught the circle route bus and head to Nagasaki Museum of History and Culture.
Yeah yeah, probably some of you think "yawn", but I love it so you think it's too boring, you can turn around and leave this blog :p ha!
While we were there, the lady that works there informed us that a group of Japanese drum players were to perform within the premise. This is because on the day we arrive in Nagasaki, it was the last day of the major festival called Kunchi.

Group of these drum players were paying a visit to major places within the city (I presume).

cool huh? I love it
I love it even more knowing that the main drum player in front was a woman.

After it was over, we continued our tour within the museum.

This metal plate is called fumie. This was used during the self-imposed isolation of Japan (during Edo Period), to find out whether you were Christian (mainly Catholics) or not, since Christianity was banned and persecuted from 1629. People had to step on the picture (usually a portrayal of Virgin Mary or Jesus). By the way Christians were called Kirishitan in Japanese back in those days.
Well... even if I was a Christian back in Edo Period Japan, I'm pretty sure I will step on it to save my life, because I really don't think Jesus or Virgin Mary is going to be angry with me for doing that! lol

As Christians were persecuted, many eventually hide their true belief, but secretly continued to practise their religion (they were known as "hidden Christians").
Take this picture for an example. This looks like Buddhist Kannon (Goddess of Mercy), but this is actually Virgin Mary in disguise. Kinda neat huh?


The museum contained a reconstruction of Nagasaki Bugyo's premise (Bugyo is a commissioner).

Damn, would love to live in a place like this.

After we left the museum we head to downtown for our dinner. Had quite a few Nagasaki specialities such as mini-gyoza (type of Chinese dumpling in Japanese style). It's so small you can eat it in one bite. yummm...