March 4  Nagasaki

We took a trip to Uzen and Shimabara which are on the peninsula across the bay from Nagasaki. The drive over took us through an agricultural area overlooking the bay. The primary products are potatoes, onions and rapeseed, we saw many terraced farms covering the mountainous terrain. The potatoes are just being started at this time and the fields were mostly covered with plastic to protect the plants from the frost. The day was cool but sunny with little wind and by afternoon was very comfortable.

In the bay are many fish farms where they are raising Sea Breem, Yellow Tail and Blowfish. 

The peninsula is a real hot spot, it still has a number of active volcanos and hot springs dot the area. Our first stop is at a small fishing village named Obama. O means small and bama means seashore. Apparently it is a common name for villages along the seacoast. All through the town are vents with steam pouring out. They use the steam for heating and for cooking. There are also several hot spring baths.

As we drive into the middle of the peninsula we see terraced rice paddies. The rice is harvested twice a year. Rice consumption in Japan is decreasing as people are eating more potatoes, bread and noodles now. We pass a station wagon with an elaborately carved gold colored dragon on the roof, this is a typical hearse.

We arrive in Uzen and visit Uzen Jigoku. Jigoku means Hell. The area has been used since discovered in 700BC by a Buddhist monk. For centuries women were not allowed in the area. It does look like Hell and smells like sulphur. it reminds us of the boiling mud in New Zealand. It is now a resort area where people come for the hot springs which are supposed to be good for various ailments and for the skin. The water will reach a temperature of 210F. From our memory it seems a lot hotter and active than the area in New Zealand. As we walk down the mountain it is less active.

Nagasaki was the only port open to trade with western Europe during the period that foreigners were not allowed in Japan (called the period of national isolation 1641 – 1858).

We had another traditional Japanese lunch at one of the resort hotels – a selection of appetizers (a kind of coleslaw, pickled veggies and some UIO), sashimi, yellow fin fish cooked with daikon radish, rice, a broth with noodles and a chewy UIO, tempura with squid and veggies and of course green tea. The whole meal was delicious ( UIO=unidentifiable object). 

Next we are in Shimabara a town that sits on the water below a still active volcano. The volcano was active during 1990 – 1995 with a major eruption in 1992. During the active period there were over 9600 flaming flows or avalanches, one of which buried most of the town. We visited a memorial park that contains some of the homes as they were found, many had only the roof showing above the rubble, some had the second floor still attached, amazingly windows, antenna are intact. 

The town appears to have been rebuilt and we learn that those who did escape the tragedy came back and built a new home on top of where their old house is buried under 6 meters of rubble. The town has also made two huge trenches in an effort to divert any future flows away from the houses. The memorial area reminds us of Pompeii but on a much smaller scale.

In the same town we visit more samurai homes, this time that of lower level samurais and the castle of the local feudal lord. The castle and houses are 380 years old. a stream runs down the middle of the road. This provided the drinking water for the homes along the road. The houses are smaller than what we saw yesterday with much less elaborate gardens. These samurai worked as minor bureaucrats when there was peace. The higher the rank of the samurai the closer they lived to the castle.

The castle is a five level white building. It is situated on a built up area, surrounded by a high stone wall and a wide moat. The exhibition depicts the persecution of Christians during the 17th century. During that time Christianity was banned and over 30,000 Christians were killed.

The Samurai were in place from 12th century until 1800s. The Samurai fighting outfits look very heavy. They have leather armor including fierce looking masks. As we left the castle we had our picture taken with a couple of samurai and ninjas.