After a three hour journey I got off the train at Urakami, the stop before Nagasaki station. This is the area which was the epicentre of the bomb blast sixty years ago. I walked for a short time through the bustling city until I reached a quiet park, and the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum. The museum is both informative and moving and I believe puts forward a compelling argument for the abolition of nuclear weaponry. According to data displayed in the museum, on August 9th 1945, Nagasaki was actually the secondary target for the strike. Kokura, the city I’m currently living in, was actually the initial target but on that morning the cloud cover was so heavy over the region that the pilot headed southwest to Nagasaki. The weather was much the same there, but at 11.02 the skies cleared briefly to allow the four ton bomb; ‘Fat man’ to be unleashed.
The effects of the weapon were catastrophic and 150,000 people were killed or injured in the blast itself and many more perished later from the subsequent side effects of radiation like Leukaemia. The exhibitors at the museum are not shy about displaying the graphic reality of the destruction and suffering of Nagasaki people and there are numerous images of burns and radiation victims which are hard to forget. The exhibition closes positively with a section entitled ‘Towards a world free of nuclear weapons’, which has a time line of events relating to nuclear issues since World War Two. It celebrates the protests of people throughout the world against nuclear armaments and finishes with a declaration by the mayor of Nagasaki, made on the 60th anniversary of the bombing calling for the abolition of such weapons.
From the museum it’s a short walk to the Peace Park located high on a green hill at the northern end of the city. Amongst the trees there are some fantastic statues sent from all over the world to the Nagasaki people as an offering to peace and international brotherhood. The centrepiece of the park is the controversial ‘Peace Statue’ which was designed by a local Nagasaki man Seibu Kitamura and erected in 1955. To date the huge statue has had some mixed press, including a particularly unkind reference in my popular global travel guide which labels it a ‘monstrosity’. The sculpture is an effigy of a seated man with his right hand pointing upwards to the threat of nuclear weapons and left arm outstretched for calm. The features of the figure are ambiguous; appearing at times to look like a Buddha, at other times more like a Greek God. I believe it was designed as a fusion of eastern and western classical sculpture to suggest a global wish for peace.
Rich with powerful symbolism, the statue has a unique and memorable appeal. It goes to show you can’t always believe everything you read.
On a peaceful hill near Nagasaki station is a monument to some more distant history. The ‘Site of the Martyrdom of the 26 saints of Japan’ is a grassy mound high above Nagasaki city where twenty Japanese Christians and six foreign missionaries were crucified in 1597. Although trade with the European settlers had made the region very prosperous in the 16th century the growth of western populist religion was perceived as a threat by the Japanese authorities. Christians suffered great persecution in Japan, this crucifixion being the most brutal single incident. The Martyrs are remembered today with an intricate memorial carved on a stone wall near the hill. The detailed relief is shaped like a cross and depicts the victims with hands clasped in prayer. Disturbingly three or four of those killed appear to be boys in their early teens.
Christianity was officially banned in Japan in 1614 although the state’s conflict with this outside influence continued to occur and rose to a peak during a peasant uprising in 1637-38 that was perceived by the authorities as a ‘Christian revolt’. After this, all foreigners were banned from Japan, except a small group of protestant Dutch merchants who were allowed to continue trading from the isolation of the tiny island of Dejima in Nagasaki port. For centuries the Dutch community in Nagasaki provided the only contact Japan had with western ideology, medicine and culture. The city of Nagasaki is currently constructing a reproduction of the island as it would have been during the 1600s and you can see some interesting artifacts on display here from this period.
Even though the missionaries were banned from Japan, throughout the years a small band of Christians survived in Nagasaki. Later on, when Japan was reopened to Western influence in the 19th century some French priests established a church in Nagasaki. One of the priests was amazed when approached by a Japanese man who asked him questions regarding the nature of his beliefs. Apparently the priest’s answers proved satisfactory, and as a result, a whole community of hidden Christians emerged and were able to worship openly once more.
Despite the persecution of the authorities through the years many of these local catholic people stayed true to their beliefs and had been handing down their faith generation to generation orally for fear of keeping written materials. At the time the law banning Christianity was repealed most of the local Catholic population lived in Urakami. Eventually, after three decades of toil and savings, the residents of Nagasaki were finally able to build their own church: Urakami Cathedral, in 1925.
In a cruel twist of fate, years later on that cloudy morning in 1945 the pilots of American bomber Bockscar missed their target of an industrial zone to the south and scored a near direct hit above Urakami Cathedral, which had become the largest church in Asia. The church was almost totally destroyed and Father Nishida and ten of his parishioners were killed during the blast.
The large, striking redbrick church was rebuilt in 1959 and is located on a steep hill near Nagasaki Peace Park. Proudly displayed in front of the church are some resilient stone statues of saints from the walls of the old building that somehow survived the atomic blast years ago. To the present day the story of these people is a great example of determination in the face of ongoing adversity.
Nowadays Nagasaki itself is a vibrant attractive coastal city of over 400,000. Shipping is its major industry and has enabled the area to develop and prosper since the war. Although the area is urban you don’t have to travel far to see green hills or trees, which is a rarity for a Japanese city. With such a complex and multicultural history the city has developed differently from other regions in Japan and it has become a popular destination for both domestic and international travelers. Throughout its tumultuous history Nagasaki’s people have been touched by global influences, often in times of great xenophobia throughout the rest of the country. Perhaps that’s why it’s such a unique place to visit today.
No comments:
Post a Comment