The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps
“Why did you all choose Fukuoka? Why not Okinawa or Hokkaido?” The pretty air stewardess from Singapore Airlines asked hubby as he entertained the 8-month-old Baby EG. I was drifting in and out of sleep at the side, catching up on the patchy sleep I …
Getting to Nagasaki From Fukuoka to Nagasaki “Two bus tickets to Nagasaki, please. Via Hakata.” The ticketing officer at Fukuoka Airport looked at us in bewilderment. Then, he tried his best to explain in English that it was a bad idea. Upon his advice, we …
The night view of Mount Inasa (稲佐山, Inasayama) is said to be one of Japan’s three best night views. The other two belong to night views from Mount Hakodate, and of Mount Rokko and Mount Maya. The former has a panoramic view of Hakodate, while the latter two overlook both cities of Kobe and Osaka.
These night views are given the title of ‘ten million dollar night view‘. Were these three views so stunning that they are worth so much, or is it suggesting the high cost needed to light up the cities?
I’m a bit apprehensive of such claims because it appears to be a marketing gimmick. Having seen the day and night views of various cities, such as from The Peak of Hong Kong and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office, these views started to look similar.
However, since we were in a city with one of the three best night views, there’s no harm in seeing if it is indeed worth ten million dollars. Moreover, the 333m high mountain is also close to Nagasaki’s city centre and easy to get to. And admission is free! Although we do need to pay for the ropeway.
There are four ways to get to the summit of Mount Inasa: foot, car, bus and ropeway.
Yup, you can hike up the mountain. There’s no charge to enter the observatory platform, so you will get to view the awesome scenery for free! :)
You can reserve a night view tour with Nagasaki Yuran Bus at 1,500yen/adult (S$18.40). More information at nagasaki-yuranbus-reservation.jimdo.com. The bus picks up passengers from various hotels to Mount Inasa.
Based on Japan-guide.com, there’s also the Nagasaki Bus that runs 1-2 buses every hour between Nagasaki Station and Inasayama bus stop (150 yen one way), but there’s still a 15-minute climb. Limited information on this bus.
The most popular way will be by the ropeway. We were not there during peak, but we were still packed like sardines in the gondola (as seen above).
How to get to the Ropeway Station
You can take the streetcar/tram to Takaramachi Station and walk about 5 minutes to the ropeway station. Or take the Nagasaki Bus 3, 4 from Nagasaki Station and reach in less than ten minutes.
For us, we took a complimentary bus from our hotel to the ropeway station. This free shuttle bus is provided by the Ropeway, with stops at various hotels and JR Nagasaki Station: reserve.nagasaki-ropeway.jp/pdf/nagasaki_ropeway_bus_leaflet_en.pdf
However, if you are taking the first bus to the ropeway station, you have to take the first return bus back. I think this is to ensure that the bus will have enough seats for returning passengers. However, we missed our (first) return bus. We were hoping the second bus driver could let us off, and he did! I think because there were enough seats and with a baby in tow, the bus driver closed one eye. Phew!
We rushed but still missed our bus. The duration to hop back on the return bus is not very long. It’s sufficient for most people, but not for us. Baby E pooed during the journey, and we had to find a diaper room to change her diaper. Moreover, after we reached the top of the ropeway station, we still had to spend some time to reach the observation deck.
Details
After we alighted from the ropeway station, we still had to walk about 5-10 minutes to the observatory tower. Once there, we had to walk up the tower or wait for the busy lift to bring us up and down. So that didn’t leave us with much time to enjoy the view before we had to rush back for our bus.
Several television and radio antennas are located at the summit, and you can see them almost up close from the observation deck. And if you want to enjoy the night view without the crowd, book a table in one of the restaurants at Mount Inasa’s observation deck.
So did the ten-million-dollar view live up to its name?
It took my breath away. The night view was stunning. Thousand lights sparkled like jewels against the dark. I can’t remember when’s the last time I was awed by such a night view. Probably it was that very first time I was up on Hong Kong’s Peak.
It’s such a pity we couldn’t spend more time enjoying the view. And we couldn’t enjoy the view together as a family for long because we had to take turns to be indoors with freezing Baby E. Yup, it’s going to be cold out there! So, prepare an extra layer of covering.
If you can, try to be there in the evening and catch the sun turning the sea into orange during sunset. Fireworks can also be seen here during the summer.
Enjoy the short video I took of the night view of Mount Inasa (0:28). :)
You might also want to check out my other posts on Japan. Leave your comments or questions below. Love to hear from you. :)
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About Nagasaki Glover Garden and Oura Church Glover Garden Glover Garden (グラバー園, Glover-en) is located on the hill where Western merchants settled down after the end of Japanese government’s Seclusion Policy in 1853. It is a large sprawling garden which houses the Former Glover Residence …
With a baby, there are more considerations in choosing a place to eat. Food can be good, but the baby doesn’t have the patience for very long queues. And a cramped restaurant meant space was hard to come by for a baby chair. Nevertheless, it …
An elderly man sat diagonally opposite of me. Two girls in uniform stood near the door of the tram. They were talking in low voices in their beautiful Japanese language, without any cares in the world. I looked at my hubby opposite of me and wrapped my arms around our baby. My heart was jumbled with mixed emotions. We were on our way to Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum and Peace Park.
This day was like any other day, like the day when the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki. Who could have expected it? It was a horrific event, but a part of me was grateful it happened to stop the world war. Otherwise, how long more should my ancestors suffer? Moreover, what’s one day of destruction compared to three and more years of suffering?
Yet a trip to the museum made me understand the brutality of atomic bomb. The catastrophic effect and after effect of a nuclear weapon. Apparently the war was soon coming to an end, this bomb just accelerated it by a bit. We never know what really went on behind the scene. Nevertheless, tragic history has been written.
It was not easy to find Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum (“museum”), which was near to Ground Zero. We climbed up a slope, took a lift, and walked a distance. From where we were coming from, we could not find any obvious signboard to direct us to the museum. We almost went to the wrong building, Nagasaki City Peace Hall, which was next to the museum.
From the cold, we stepped into the museum and warm air enveloped us. “Is this the place?” Hubby and I asked in unison. Streams of colourful thousands origami paper cranes (千羽鶴 Senbazuru) welcomed us. As we walked nearer to admire them, we found art pieces of minature cranes in bottles, and cranes of special materials, such gold plated ones, encased.
A staff kindly pointed us to walk down a spiral to the ticketing booth and the exhibit entrance. We circled down as the years mounted on the wall decrease every 5 years, from present age to 1960 to 1950 to 1945, the fateful year.
A quick history lesson from Wikipedia, “During World War II, the United States detonated two nuclear weapons over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945, respectively. This was after obtaining the consent of the United Kingdom, as required by the Quebec Agreement. The two bombings killed at least 129,000 people, most of whom were civilians. They remain the only use of nuclear weapons in the history of warfare.”
The fateful time, 11:02 am. Students were in school, adults at work, and streets full of life. Light flashed and heat engulfed the city. It was as if the sun had fallen from the sky. In a blink, the city fell into darkness. Mr Hirotami Yamada, a survivor recalled the scene. When light returned, the city and people were charred. And for those who seemed to escape unscathed, they were not spared – most died or suffered from the radioactive effects thereafter. In a moment, lives were forever changed.
As we saw photos of how Nagasaki was before the atomic bombing, the next step brought us into a recreated scene of the disaster. Real remnants from the destruction were displayed. Charred cooking utensils, a school girl’s lunch box and melted glass bottles stuck together at the top. The reality of innocent lives taken away in such catastrophic disaster sank in.
It was a sombre place. As we journeyed on, we read about events leading up to the dropping of the atomic bomb. Real life accounts of eye witnesses and survivors were especially piercing to the heart. We could also read poignant poems, songs and letters that were penned to commemorate the tragic event.
The earth still continues to spin. Life still has to go on. We moved on to read about Nagasaki’s road to recovery, with the reconstruction of the city to present day. On the other hand, history of nuclear weapons development were rehashed, in hope that it will not continue and the world be peaceful and free of nuclear weapons.
I had wanted to absorb all the information and walk all the grounds. However with a baby, I could only browse through and peeked a little into the past. I guess this is better than not even grasping the tip of the iceberg.
The walk from the atomic bomb museum to Nagasaki Peace Park (“Peace Park”) is about 10 minutes. The route is not so straightforward, so you might want to ask the museum staff for directions or have them suggest a route to explore the park. The peace park covers a large area. I didn’t even know we missed out a few monuments until I started this post.
For example, we missed the big Peace Statue situated near to the museum. Every year on 9th of August, a memorial service is held in front of this statue. It is a green man with “raised right hand pointing to the sky depicts the threat of the atomic bomb, and the left hand stretching horizontally symbolises eternal world peace, while the slightly closed eyes express a prayer asking that the souls of the victims may find rest.” (quoted from visit-nagasaki.com).
Moreover, there’s an interesting display along the river. A window is cut across the river bank to show the actual rubble from the blast. We didn’t see it because I think that part of the river was under construction while we were there.
At the park, you can find many symbols of Peace monuments donated from around the world. As we journeyed from the museum to ground zero, across a long stretch of red bricks flooring, we noticed a heartrending monument: a mother is carrying her dead baby, and the date and time of the tragic event was etched on the base – 1945.8.9, 11:02AM.
The Peace Park was built at the heart of the atomic bomb explosion. A cenotaph is built upon the center of the atomic bomb’s destructive force. Ground Zero. It is at the center of concentric circles, which are likely made to illustrate the radiating effects of the impact.
It was said that grass and trees would not grow on this spot for 75 years after the explosion. However, this park is currently vibrant with plant life.
Beside Ground Zero, structural remains of Urakami Cathedral stood in place. It is the actual remnants from the explosion. Urakami Cathedral was the grandest church in East Asia at that time, and now, only a beam remains.
After a heavy-hearted tour, let’s lift our spirit with some food! It’s dinner time for us by the time we were done.
Horaiken Bekkan, which offers Chinese cuisine, is near to Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum and Peace Park. A plausible option if you are looking to settle your lunch nearby and continue exploring the area. A good option if you want to try Nagasaki Champon. It’s like a Japanese udon cooked in Chinese style.
The Champon starts from 900 yen (S$11). Note that there might be a queue before Horaiken opens. Sadly, we had to skip this restaurant. We were rushing to catch the shuttle bus to Mt Inasa and we could not find the restaurant.
When we finally found the restaurant on our way to the tram/streetcar station, a steep flight of stairs faced us. With a baby, a stroller and tonnes of tiredness, we decided it’s too tiring and time consuming to conquer the stairs. Thus we gave Horaiken a miss. But I still managed to detour and try Champon on our drive to Kumamoto!
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We took a red eye flight from Singapore to Fukuoka with Singapore Airlines. When we arrived, we went straight from Fukuoka airport to Nagasaki. We travelled from 21 February to 1 March 2018. Here are a few options we considered for travelling from Fukuoka (International) …