The New Shinkansen
Another day trip from Fukuoka, this time to Nagasaki. Since September 2022, there’s been a Shinkansen to Nagasaki, but only for the last stretch: you take the Relay Kamome limited express from Hakata to Takeo-Onsen, walk across the platform, and the Kamome Shinkansen does the last 30 minutes. The inside is all wood, like a fancy café.
Then the old trams, still running all over the city, out to Urakami.
The Atomic Bomb Museum
At 11:02am on 9 August 1945, three days after Hiroshima, a second atomic bomb exploded over Nagasaki. It was meant for the city centre, but because of clouds it fell on Urakami, a few kilometres north.
The museum is quieter than Hiroshima’s and organised a little differently, but the effect is the same. A full-size model of Fat Man, the bomb itself. Melted bottles, burnt clothes, a clock stopped at 11:02. And strings of paper cranes everywhere.
The One-Legged Torii
A short walk away, up a quiet street of stairs, is Sanno Shrine. The blast blew away half of its stone torii. The other half, one pillar and half the crossbeam, is still standing, balanced on one leg, 800 metres from where the bomb went off.
Then back to the station by tram, for the afternoon: a boat out to Gunkanjima.
Information About the Atomic Bomb Museum
Near the hypocenter in Urakami, about 15 minutes by tram from Nagasaki Station. Sanno Shrine's one-legged torii is a 10-minute walk away.