When you are planning your first trip to Japan and you are traveling to both Nagasaki and Hiroshima, you might thinking about the best way to spend your time. You may be wondering if you should visit both peace parks or if you should prioritize the visit of one over the other. Fortunately, our cruise was planning to stop at both ports so we could decide how we wanted to spend our time at either place. Our research accurately showed that while both location have a peace museum dedicated to the destruction and loss caused by the atomic bombs dropped on their cities in August of 1945, that the two locations offered varied experiences.
In Nagasaki, we booked an excursion through the cruise line, which included visits to a samurai village, a tour of the Shimabara castle, a tasty traditional Japanese lunch and culminated with a stop at Nagasaki’s Peace Park. We discovered that what made Nagasaki’s Peace Park unique is its series of sculptures and statues. The main statue entitled Divine Grace created by sculptor Seibert Kitamura is flanked on either side by monuments sent to Nagasaki from various countries and organizations throughout the world. And, actually, because we had visited the Shimabara castle first, we were able to see Kitamura’s process in creating Divine Grace as well as a a collection of his other work. It really is quite the impressive work of art that shows how the sculptor strived to make the face of the statue display grace, love and compassion calling for global harmony.
If you had the time and desire, you could spend hours walking around, reading each plaque and reflecting on the destruction and the impact that the bomb had when it was dropped on Nagasaki in 1945. Aside from the main Peace Statue, you can view the Fountain of Peace as well as 15 global statues located in the Zone of Symbols and 25 or more statues and monuments found in the Zone of Prayer and other adjacent areas. Because of all of the beauty and number of statues and monuments located at the Nagasaki Peace Park, what is especially impressive about it is that it shows how the world came together to honor those who perished, to show their support for the people of Japan and to express global solidarity so that nothing like that would and should ever happen again.
In order to get to the Peace Park in Hiroshima, we took a shuttle from the cruise port and then a bus that took us to the area downtown where it was located. Thanks to Japan’s excellent public transportation system, it was relatively easy for us to get around the city on our own. Whereas we had a guide with us in Nagasaki, we spent our time in Hiroshima simply walking around and looking at everything on our own. Once we found our way over to the peace park, we were first able to see the Genbaku Dome or Atomic Bomb Dome, which was one of the only buildings near the blast center that survived. Near that is the Children’s Peace Monument and Bell of Peace and farther down the area is the Flame of Peace, the Pond of Peace and the Memorial Cenotaph, which covers the registry of known victims of the bombing. The area is designed so that if you are lined up correctly that you can see through the Cenotaph and can view the flame and the dome in the background.
Beyond the Cenotaph is a beautiful fountain and the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and conference center. The Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, which we opted to not go in, has photos, artifacts and testimonies from the bombing and shows how war has devastating effects on all involved. Other sites worth seeing while at the park are the Memorial Hall, the affected trees, and monuments to specific groups affected by the bombing. Hiroshima’s Peace Park perhaps has more of a focus on the victims as it urges all those who visit to remember clearly that the atomic bomb affected people with names and families. Hiroshima’s Peace Park shows the reality of the destruction that the atomic bomb caused.
The Peace Parks of both Nagasaki and Hiroshima are both impactful in their own ways. If you can go and visit both, then I definitely recommend that you do so. If you can only visit one park, and you feel that it would be more impactful for you to see the devastation caused by the bombing, then Hiroshima’s Peace Park might be the better option. For me, personally, because I see a lot of strife in the world today especially amongst our governments, it was very meaningful for me to see how the world can come together to show solidarity. For that reason, I am very glad that we chose to go to Nagasaki’s Peace Park.
If you are looking to plan that trip to Japan and would like some help in making sure that you maximize your time there, I would love to help you make that happen. Reach out today to begin planning a trip there for the cherry blossom season or early summer before it gets too hot.