Busy, Busy, Busy...

Yes indeed, it's been a busy week, between traveling to America for the funeral, followed by the celebration of our 5 year anniversary the next weekend (6/9/01). For several weeks we'd planned to take a trip to Nagasaki to celebrate and decided it was still a good idea, in spite of me still feeling pretty tired from jet-lag and all. But seeings how it's our 5th, it deserved a little something special. Besides, I couldn't ask Jackie to sit around our apartment for the weekend, especially since the jumping spiders are making a comeback with the humidity.

Rather than show you the usual pictures from Nagasaki, involving the A-bomb site, Peace Park, etc, I've decided to show you a few other pictures (You can still see those pictures by clicking on the new Nagasaki pictures link in the right-hand margin). I'm hoping to give you a bit of a glimpse into a side of Nagasaki that isn't as well known, and that I found very interesting. For many, many years, Nagasaki was the only port where foreigners were allowed to trade and live, making it a very unique Japanese city due to its foreign influence. Here I'll try to illustrate a couple of those influences.

To the right here, we have a picture of a stone dragon. I've developed a bit of a fascination for these fellows, which Jackie frequently mocks. "Oh great, another picture of a stupid statue..." There are lots of stone dragons in Japan, but very, very few like this one...this guy is Chinese, and believe it or not, looks very different from his Japanese relatives. He's at a Confucian shrine...actually on Chinese soil, controlled by the Chinese embassy in Tokyo. Confucianism, while no doubt influential to a certain degree, is not a major philosophy/religion in Japan. The Chinese have been very influential on the Japanese in ancient times, but especially so in Nagasaki. The shrine was awesome, with lots of very interesting statues and a fun museum in the back. I'm not sure why those babies are riding on the dragon's back...no doubt he's saving them for later, when his appetite kicks in. I think dragons probably have a high metabolism, with all that fire-breathing and what-not.

And here, we have another very interesting aspect of Nagasaki's historic foreign liberalism...a Christian church. Catholic, to be more precise. It was built in the 1860's, and is the oldest Christian church in Japan. Being a Christian myself, it was heart-warming to be in the company of other Christians again, even if they don't speak my language and believe a little differently (I'm currently Protestant). Just seeing familiar symbols made me feel at home. And I learned something on this trip: back in the 1600's, when Christianity was beginning to thrive in Japan (especially in the south), the shogun decided that this "new" religion posed a potential political threat. So, he proceeded to do what so many have done in the past, he had several executed (by crucifixion in this case). I found out Nagasaki is somewhat well-known in Catholic circles for the death of 26 martyrs: 4 European missionaries and 22 Japanese believers. The pope (John Paul II) even visited the site of their martyrdom back in the 70's, I think it was. Again, more pictures by clicking on the link in the right-hand margin.

We had a good time in Nagasaki, just enjoying one another, reveling in a little history, and eating at the Mexican restaurant (sort of) we found on the wharf. And for those of you who are a little less-than familiar with the web, just click on the link below to see the pictures from our trip. Beware, there be lots of stone dragons in there... ;-)

http://s48.photobucket.com/albums/f202/bergieboy77/Nagasaki/

And I'll leave you with something Jackie found especially interesting, lots and lots of hydrangeas! At some points, I could've spit in any direction and been sure to hit at least one amazingly beautiful blue hydrangea.


They were everywhere!

Thanks for reading!