68: NAGASAKI

Spectacles Bridge

Nagasaki is a lovely port city surrounded on three sides by mountains and on the last side by water. It was like a Japanese Vancouver. We spent the morning walking around the city and the afternoon in the excellent Atomic Bomb Museum (which even had a school girl's preserved bento box from the day of the bombing) and ended off the day at the Nagasaki Peace Park.

The Fountain of Peace is an offering of water to the victims of the atomic bomb. According to the inscription, the fountain sends up a sparkling spray of water in the shape of wings, evoking the dove of peace and the crane after which Nagasaki harbour was named.

Fountain of Peace

Peace Statue:

Words of the Sculptor:

After experiencing that nightmarish war,
that blood-curdling carnage,
that unendurable horor,
Who could walk away without praying for peace?
This statue was created as a signpost in the
cause of global harmony.
Standing ten meters tall,
it conveys the profundity of knowledge and
the beauty of health and virility.
The right hand points to the atomic bomb,
the left hand points to peace,
and the face prays deeply for the victims of war.
Transcending the barriers of race
and evoking the qualities of both Buddha and God,
it is a symbol of the greatest determination
ever known in the history of Nagasaki
and of the highest hope of all mankind.

Seibo Kitamura
Spring 1955