Regarding flowers, I was gifted a free ticket to an Ikebana display in Tenjin/ Fukuoka. At the top of a mall in the trendy shopping district of the big city... you think I almost got sick? Nope, the flower arrangements were absolutely awesome. Creative at times, traditional at others and beautiful all over. I will scatter some pictures to reflect what simply looks better in person.
(One of the 45 pictures I took!)I had the opportunity to visit Nagasaki on my last of four three-day weekend (I am still in shock about that!). Met up with Lindsay and Vanessa at 9am, dropped the backpack in my hotel room and we hit the city! I had a bed in my room... first one I've slept on in.... well, since the soccer tournament on Sept 16th... so, 24 days. I like my futon, but this was certainly a treat, AirCon too, would you believe that?!
(Short, but pretty, no?)
We roamed the city, after all it was a huge festival in the port town. Dragon festival, i think... or in preparations for the Okunchi celebration there. We followed floats and paraded to multiple stages around the city, watching the seemingly similar presentations over and over and over and over and... yeah, the pictures were cool.
(A team of rockstars pushed this float and spun it in perfect circles at high speeds!)We made our way to the Glover Gardens, remnants of the Dutch influence in Nagasaki. The Dutch traded with the Japanese during the day and then were ferried back to their island/area so that they couldn't disrupt Japanese life (back in the day). The Portuguese influence is also apparent because Nagasaki is famous for Castella... a pound cake with a Portuguese name! And, lest we forget the Chinese influence... lots of food and the very dragon festival that we were witnessing! With lots of tradition, foreign influence and a unique port setting... rambling, Dave. Nagasaki was cool.
(A one-man float- awesome to watch this one!)
The most random part was getting smacked on the back really hard at 9:30am while munching on chicken balls and watching the spinning floats... This is an affectionate gesture made by friends; lo and behold, the people who sell me fruit, who practice English with me, with whom I practice Japanese, were there for the day! I saw them all over the city, randomly all day and it was funny every time. We were surprised to run into each other continuously, but it makes for good laughs at the fruit stand!
Vanessa and Lindsay took the next morning to themselves while I headed over to the Atomic bomb museum and Peace Park. Coming from a culture of comparison I have the urge to compare this place to another. Though the tool of comparison is helpful in providing jobs for political "scientists," trying to describe this area in terms of comparison is shallow and incomplete. I might even say that the Holocaust museum in Washington DC rings a bell, but death is death and genocide looks the same in all forms. In a flash: lots of people gone, fire, destruction and misery. I can't take sides as a historian, but I can tell you what happened in Nagasaki at 11:02am on August 9, 1945 was neither peaceful or pretty. But I can tell you that the motto I saw everywhere was one I have heard during this life as a Jew, "Never Forget." Truer words have never been spoken.
(This statue is at the hypocenter of the explosion- the epicenter was 100 meters above this point)
The Peace Park was lovely, lots of statues sent as gifts to the city of Nagasaki from sister cities all over the world in the hopes of always promoting peace. From places like: Brasil, the People's Republics of North Korea and of China, the USSR (this was a little while ago, no?), the German Democratic Republic (eastern Germany), Czechoslovakia (when it was under Soviet-influence and still ONE country!), and the USA. There were a couple of other statues too, but I didn't get to that side of the park because the sky finally rained on my head. It had been cloudy and humid for two days- it was just a matter of time. 
(a picture looking up at Suwa Shrine)
My blogs are generally facts, so here is a little bit of emotion for you: I cried, not a lot, but I cried in the museum. Not about the destructive pictures; not reading the facts about how the bomb detonated, exploded or had the cute name of "Fatboy"; not about the sicknesses and pictures that explosion victims endured. Even warped glass, pictures of decaying human flesh and memorabilia from people's homes didn't brought a tear to my eye.
But I couldn't hold it back when I read the testimony from an older man who was asked to reminisce about the event... when he was 9-years old on that fateful day. He told of having to lie on his stomach for three months as doctors treated the burn wounds on his back. The pain, the time and the tone of helplessness was apparent as I read about the mold growing under his stomach. He was unable to move for so long and the grossness that grew underneath him during his recovery time nearly made me faint. The clincher? The father who wrote a poem of watching his son and daughter die after he tried all day to get them treatment and help. He spent 10 hours running around a burnt city and both of his children closed their eyes as the sun set. His wife died next to him in bed three days later. All he asked for was death. All he wanted to do was be with his family. All he wanted was for this misery to end. I don't know if it was the loneliness or the sheer catastrophe that made this man so desperately plead for the end of his life. All I can tell you was that I cried.
(This is the main Peace Statue)
I don't want to end this on a downer, so think of this as an upper! I am just relating facts feelings and my take. To sympathize with others is important. It is the most amazing aspect of our species- more so, I think, than "rational" thought. But, as important as it is to feel for our fellow man, one must remember to separate oneself from the event as well. That way one can go on; one can share his or her experience with others. We can't dwell on the past, but we can learn from it and we must never, never forget. There is so much potential to bring peace to the world, and celebrating an atrocity by replacing it with a Peace park is certainly one important avenue to accomplish this possible feat. 
(Peace)
The experience was a reminder: every second of my life I should be bringing peace to the earth. If I am not using every moment to accomplish this goal, I must be aware that I am not and then work towards my goal.
Sooner than you think... I have my next one ready!
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