Day at the Park

Yesterday JASIN (JApan Studies In Nagasaki, if you were curious) went to Mizube no Mori Park down by the Dejima wharf. There was a fair of sorts with a stage and live music and a series of tents offering food and other goods. Unfortunately it also seemed to be the day when everyone was completely wiped out, some worse than others. Whether we had been out for Evan's birthday or not everyone was tired, it may have been jet lag catching up, or it may have been stresses from having to think about every little detail and word all week, but sadly we did not do much while we were there. It was nice to sit out on the grass though and listen to the various singers, some of whom were actually quite popular in Japan (idols, as they are known in Japan, do not have quiet the same superstar status as their American counterparts even in Japan). I did manage to take a few pictures though, but ultimately I was exhausted and ended up going to bed around 7:30.

 This vending machine was on the 4th floor of the mall down at Dejima, I'm sure they have something like this in the US, but in Japan it really is crazy how many vending machines of various types you find. If one were so inclined, in larger cities (Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Nagoya), you could live off food and drinks from vending machines and never have to interact with another human being.

This was a rarity to me, but in the mall I found a Kimono store, for girls only unfortunately, I would would love to have the male version. Though my future wife will probably have to get one of these, because I do think they look beautiful on girls.

 If you look closely about mid picture is a turtle, he was trying to swim up river and making very little progress against the current, still he refused to give up, ganbarimasu, kane-san!

 Here is a picture of Nagasaki harbor, and beyond that bridge the ocean. It was the first time I had been able to get out that close, though the scale is really lost in the photo.

Here is a large ship that was in the harbor, and I mean huge. I'm fairly certain that, if you laid it on it's side, the mall at Dejima (which is 7 stories) would fit nicely into this ship with room to spare.

 The Stage

 And some of the tents, and look people!

These are some shots taken at the park, in retrospect I wish I had taken more, but honestly I was having a hard time not falling asleep even standing up, and the mellow beats of the Japanese pop songs were not helping me resist that feeling, fortunately they were mixed in with some more upbeat songs. It is really interesting how few people I see on a daily basis in Nagasaki. While it has about 1/6 the population density of Tokyo (and 1/60 the population) I understand that the majority of the population is elderly, yet I do not see too many elderly people when I am out. I can only conclude that it is the younger people that make up almost all of the foot traffic in a city. But it is crazy how orderly things are, thanks to public transportation rush hour in Nagasaki is often less sever than rush hour in my home town, which boasts a population of 13,000 in the city, with maybe twice that in the surrounding countryside. However the traffic does seem fairly consistent through out the day, at least when I've been out, until about 9 or 10pm. I have been told by people in Japan that Tokyo is a mess and that I do not want to go there because there are too many people, but down here, we're a long way from Tokyo.