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Dark History of Nagasaki, Japan

The A-Bomb, WWII and War

Everyone knows about Hiroshima (the bigger of the 2 bombings in WWII) but Nagasaki is often forgotten. Link to detailed History. There are some other historic sites I’d recommend in Nagasaki Prefecture related to this:

An Abandoned Torpedo Test Site
Nagasaki Peace Park
Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum – Similar to the one in Hiroshima

See the Map below for other things in the Nagasaki Area as well as a potential cycling route to see them all.

Prosecution of Religion and Mount Unzen

Long before the atomic bomb was dropped, Nagasaki was famous for being Japan’s beacon to the west. Chinese, Portuguese, and Dutch traders have all passed through Nagasaki’s harbor and imparted a part of their culture along the way. Portuguese sponge cake called castera is still sold today as a Nagasaki staple. Dejima warf is a downtown tourist hot spot constructed to look like a 16th Century Dutch market, and Nagasaki’s China Town is Japan’s oldest and most vibrant. – National Geo.

Along with Western influence came its religion. Christianity came to Nagasaki in 1543 with a Jesuit missionary by the name of Francis Xavier. The majority of the country practiced Buddhism and Shintoism. Christianity was introduced to Japan by Portuguese and Spanish missionaries, and it gained some popularity among the Japanese population. However, fearing the influence of Christianity and foreign powers, the ruling authorities, particularly the Tokugawa Shogunate, implemented strict measures to suppress the religion.

In 1597, a group of 26 Christians, including missionaries and converts, were arrested in Nagasaki and brought to the nearby Mount Unzen. They were brutally executed by being tied to crosses and thrown into the boiling hot waters of the Unzen volcanic springs. This act was intended to deter the spread of Christianity and serve as a warning to those who practiced the faith.

The Shimabara Rebellion

The oppressive treatment of Christians, along with the socio-economic grievances, led to a widespread discontent that culminated in the Shimabara Rebellion. Under the leadership of a charismatic 16-year-old Christian named Amakusa Shiro, the rebels took control of Hara Castle in the Shimabara Peninsula. The castle became the focal point of the rebellion, with the rebels using it as a stronghold against the shogunate forces.

The rebellion was ultimately crushed by the Tokugawa Shogunate, with a massive force that included professional samurai and the assistance of Dutch naval forces. The defeat of the rebellion further intensified the persecution of Christians in Japan, leading to even stricter measures against the religion and its followers.

One of my Favourite Anime’s Rurouni Kenshin / Samura X has their whole arc: Shimabara Arc based on this brief history of Christians and Rebellion in Nagasaki area: Amakusa Shogo is a fictional character from the manga and anime series “Rurouni Kenshin” created by Nobuhiro Watsuki. The character of Amakusa Shogo in “Rurouni Kenshin” draws inspiration from historical figures and events, including the Shimabara Rebellion. In the story, Amakusa Shogo is portrayed as the leader of a group called the “Juppongatana,” a group of skilled warriors with diverse abilities. Amakusa Shogo seeks revenge against the Meiji government for their role in suppressing the Christian population and the Shimabara Rebellion.

Other Points of Interest

November 17, 1990, Mount Unzen erupted generating a pyroclastic flow. The eruptions of Mount Unzen caused significant destruction and loss of life. More than 40 people died, including scientists and journalists, and thousands of residents were evacuated from their homes. The volcanic activity also had a substantial impact on the local economy, tourism, and infrastructure.

Buried houses of Mt. Unzen eruption preservation park

Amakusa (island just nearby) is offering free houses in Japan. Full article here.

Yakushima, Japan

The inspiration for the setting of the Ghibli movie: Princess Mononoke (もののけ姫). It’s a pretty simple island:

Go for a hike and see all the big trees – see map below
See the nice beaches and coastline
There are turtles for snorkelling and if you go at the right time of year – hatching turtles

Old detailed blog.

Tanegashima, Japan

There’s only 1 real reason to go here: to witness a rocket launch. Believe it or not but this is the space centre that Pokemon base their Moss Deep Space station off. Old detailed blog.

Bonus - Kaimondake Aka Little Fuji

Shikoku

Shikoku (四国), meaning “four kingdoms,” comprises four prefectures on an island in central Japan: Tokushima, Kochi, Ehime, and Kagawa. Shikoku is known for its powerful landscapes. Rugged mountains running east to west divide the island, and the southern part faces the expansive Pacific Ocean. Pockets of satoyama (里山), or foothill farm communities, are woven into the forests that surround them.

Shikoku is also known for religious significance – The Shikoku Pilgrimage, also called the “Shikoku henro (四国遍路)” or the “88 pilgrimage,” is a historic Buddhist route, established over 1,200 years ago. Inspired by a monk named Kūkai (who founded Shingon Buddhism), the pilgrimage and its customs are deeply ingrained in the people of Shikoku, Japan’s way of life.

Mount Tsurugi (剣山, Tsurugisan)

Mount Tsurugi aka “Sword Mountain” was one of the most picturesque hikes I have done. It’s exposed ridgelines and views made it the perfect day out. You can find more granular details here on Japan Guide. I would recommend some car shuffling/ Bus (infrequent timings)/ Taxi between the start and end points of the hike. You can find and download Map GPX files.

Other highlights around the area include:

Iya Valley Double Vine Bridge – You can slide across in a self pulled trolley across the gorge. Recommend at least 1 hour here.
Nagoro “Scarecrow” Village – scary little area nearby. Only noting because it’s so closeby. Not essential.
Statue of a Peeing Boy – quick stop if you’re on the way through

Other Locations on Shikoku

Dogo Onsen – in Matsuyama. of which Miyazaki is said to have based his onsen from Spirited Away on. To be honest I didn’t see much of a resemblance but it did look very impressive.
Uchiko Town – Yokaichi Old Town is Uchiko’s preserved street of houses where most of the town’s attractions can be found. This historical district looks just as it did over 100 years ago, when wealth and prosperity came to Uchiko through its wax trade. Another symbol of Uchiko is found outside of the old district: Uchiko-za is a full scale kabuki theater equipped with trap doors, hidden entrances and a rotating stage.

Bonus - Naruto Theme Park

Whilst not ‘technically’ on Shikoku it what sits on an island between Honshu and Shikoku is: Naruto x Boruto park Nijigen no mori (Naruto Theme Park). Whilst I have not been here yet – It’s definitely on the list!

Cycling the Shimanami Kaido (しまなみ海道)

What is the Shimanami Kaido?

The Shimanami Kaido (しまなみ海道, Shimanami Kaidō) is a 60 kilometer long toll road that connects Japan’s main island of Honshu to the island of Shikoku, passing over six small islands in the Seto Inland Sea.

Cycling is a popular means of experiencing the Shimanami Kaido. The bicycle route is well marked and maintained, and diverges from the expressway on the islands. The ramps leading up to the bridges were built at small inclines with cyclists in mind. At about 70 kilometers, the bike route is a bit longer than the toll road, but because there are no large inclines, it can be comfortably completed in a day by intermediate cyclists.
Japan Guide

Hot Tips

Don’t Rush it. It’s a simple route, any novice could complete it in a single day, it’s not a great achievement. Take the time – plan and explore the area; talk to the Locals, stop and go for a swim. There’s so much to do.
Visit Ōkunoshima (Rabbit Island) – A quick ferry ride from two potential ports be surrounded by cute and furry friends and spend the night at an amazing Japanese style hotel with sunsets and beaches.
Bicycle Rentals – Ensure you’ve booked your bike rental before arriving. They often shut on weird days of the week but will make an exception if you have booked ahead. I recommend The Red Bicycles Onomichi
One way or Return – logistically speaking… it’s MUCH simpler to ride the bike back to where you picked it up. However if you don’t have the time you can pay for returning the bike via a courier. I’ve not done this but want to note it is an option. I’d recommend return trip and trying an alternate route starting from Onomichi.
Routes of the Shimanami Kaido – there are multiple routes / lines you can follow on your adventure. The main line I find to be good but think the Island Explorer to be the better options; there’s less traffic (cars and trucks), less polluted and better scenery. See recommended (Black) route below.

Things Nearby

It’s a small town – if you haven’t been outside the major cities this will be a charming small town with good cafe’s food and fun little things to do such as:

Onomichi Ramen: Onomichi is a ramen style that consists of soy sauce-based broth that is occasionally flavored with pork, seafood from the Seto Inland Sea, chicken, or dashi. The broth is served hot with flat wheat noodles of medium thickness and a generous serving of seabura – pork back fat. Recommend Denyasu – most places are quite crowded but this one is just as good with almost no wait.
Senkoji Park – Amazong Views and Sakura (cherry blossom) flower viewing. Recommend walking up/down at least once to see the Cat Alley and winding streets and temples.

Route and Points of Interest

Pics

My Life Throughout COVID

Life through COVID was a change – it presented me with opportunities and challenges. I’ve tried a new format of of showing my life throughout these times: Story Maps: https://storymap.knightlab.com/. See my test Story Map below:

Early Access

As a Harry Potter fan, playing Hogwarts Legacy was a dream come true. I remember reading the first book over 15 years ago, and now being able to immerse myself in the wizarding world and attend Hogwarts was an experience like no other. The game was set in the 1800s, so it felt like a new chapter in the wizarding world, but at the same time, it was nostalgic, as I recognized some of the characters and places from the original books and movies.

I was so excited for the release of Hogwarts Legacy that purchased the deluxe edition, which was supposed to give 72 hours of early access. I was so excited that I even woke up a day earlier than the steam date. I would have to wait another 24 hours to play… The next day, I woke up at the same time, and my wife thought I was a bit crazy for waking up so early to play a game. But for me, it was worth it to finally experience the magic of Hogwarts Legacy.

The Best Parts

The game did an excellent job of balancing the nostalgic and new aspects, making it feel like an entirely new experience while still feeling familiar. The graphics were stunning, and the attention to detail was impressive. Walking through Hogwarts felt like walking through the castle in the movies, and the magical creatures and spells were brought to life in a way that was truly magical.

One of my favorite aspects of the game was how mature it felt. The storyline was complex, and the characters had depth, which made it feel like an adult game. It reminded me of one of my more recently found favorite games, The Witcher 3. The combat system was fluid and challenging, and there was a real sense of danger in the game. I appreciated that the game wasn’t dumbed down for a younger audience.

The Let Downs

However, there were some disappointments. Despite the game allowing you to make decisions, it often felt like the choices I made didn’t have much of an impact on the overall story. I had hoped that I could create my own legacy in the wizarding world, but it felt limited. This was a bit of a letdown, as I was hoping for more replay value.

Additionally, one of my biggest disappointments was not being able to become the heir of Slytherin and unleash the Basilisk from the Chamber of Secrets. While I understand that this would have been a controversial storyline, it would have been interesting to see how it played out in the game. I had even named my character “Raze Ash-Lairs” which, similar to Tom Marvolo Riddle is an anagram – Slytherin’s Heir.

Overall

Despite these disappointments, I played the game passionately for 36 hours in about a week, completing all of the main quests and roughly 80% of the side quests. Overall, Hogwarts Legacy was a great game that any Harry Potter fan should play. It was nostalgic yet felt new, mature, and played like one of my favorite games, The Witcher 3. While it had its flaws, it was a great addition to the wizarding world, and I’m excited to see where the game goes in the future.

Story – 9
Gameplay – 9
Music – 10
Visuals – 9
Overall – 9

The Adventure

Those who know me might know that I’m a bit of a sucker for adventure and done just a little bit of cycle touring (wayyy back in 2018 – https://thetravellingbeancounter.wordpress.com). I had dreamed up this baby a little while after getting back from Japan – the idea of cycling from (new) hometown to (original) hometown. With a good mate’s wedding the weekend following, the stars finally aligned and I set off on the 2nd of December.

Stats

Sport	Date	Title	Time	Distance	Elevation
Ride	Fri, 02/12/2022	Day 1: Sydney to Warners Bay	5:57:24	147.40 km	1,381 m
Ride	Sat, 03/12/2022	Day 2: Newcastle to Scone	6:49:35	168.59 km	1,579 m
Ride	Sun, 04/12/2022	Day 3 – Scone to Tamworth	6:08:54	142.22 km	1,107 m

Highlights (and Lowlights):

Highlight: Fueling up at Manly bowls before starting for my Finance Christmas party at Amazon. Also noting the bike way atleast 80% lighter than what I was riding around Japan on
Lowlight: Crazy traffic and psycho drivers from Manly to Palm Beach Ferry
Highlight: KFC with Rolly on arrival into Newcastle
Lowlight: Gear cable snapping literally halfway into the 2nd day
Highlight: “Day for it” good weather all round, especially when going through the Hunter Valley
Highlight: Powering up the Great Dividing Ranges without stopping until reaching the top
Lowlight: Currabubula Markets had millions of cars on the small rural roads when I was so close to home
Highlight: Accomplishing the trip! Especially with no injuries (besides an aching gooch and dead quads).

Signing up for Noosa Tri (2021)

About 2 years ago I signed up for almost every race in the continent. From a 2K Ocean Swim in Coolangatta to a 50K trail race in Warburton Victoria. Included in that was the Noosa Triathlon in 2021 which was actually out of normal tickets so I opted to run for a charity.

Noosa Tri now lays claim as the largest Olympic distance triathlon in the world and is consistently ranked in the global top-ten triathlons by athletes. The 5-day festival – which includes 11 events in all – hosts over 13,000 competitors supported by more than 30,000 spectators on race day.

It was an easy pick in terms of which charity to run for as my niece has heart problems as a kid and HeartKids support kids like her and do all kinds of good research in that area. I raised just shy of $2.5K and actually topped the individual fundraisers for the Charity, something I never expected and very proud of.

2 years later after 2021 was closed for interstate travellers due to COVID19, the time had come. I had never set my goal to get a podium as that would be so unrealistic. I just wanted to complete the event and give it a good crack. Before race I was expecting ~30mins in the swim, 1.5hours on the bike and ~40mins in the run.

Race Day

Swim – 28 minutes

Went in not too nervous but also not completely confident
Started getting ‘tired’ and a bit more nervous after a few hundred metres but went away after I realised I was able to keep up with the people around me
After the halfway point I knew I had it in the bag and walked out 28mins
Key Takeaway: I should definitely train for ocean swims with real ocean swimming

Bike – 1h 21 elapsed (1h 18m moving)

The bike makes a real difference. I don’t care what each tradesman says
I was on a hybrid and thought I did very well averaging ~30kms/h
My biggest mistake was not reading the rulebook as I drafted someone after like 2mins of riding and copped a blue card and a 3minute sin bin. I actually think most people were doing this and it’s just luck whether you get caught or not
I was destroying the average riders uphill which felt good. But those good riders were just next level. Considering the bike is the longest leg, this is where a lot of opportunity is

Run – ~40mins

Did very very well here and made up a lot of time. I was flying and think there was only 1 guy on course who was running faster than me in my line of sight

Results

Final Thoughts

Great and fun event. Highly recommend doing it.
I think even for the non-podium people you can very easily get caught up in the competition aspect and forget to enjoy it
I’m not one for crowds and it was very annoying trying to get out of the area
I beat Spencer (my old colleague) and that was my only time goal. Accomplished.

BTU110

Leading into BTU110 I had done a few long runs on the weekend and started feeling some pains in my knee in the exterior of my left knee but just like under the knee cap. It only started to feel these pains when I bent it and only after maybe 3 or 4 hours of running. I thought I was just imagining and kept pushing on.

09 July 2022 at 5:00am the race began and I was in the top 5 or 6 people. I just happened to be running a similar pace with a legend – Alexi. I was feeling great even with the steep and constant undulation until around the 40k mark or ~4-5hour mark the similar dull but consistent knee pain. I tried to run it out for another 10Ks until it started becoming unbearable – I had made it to one of the larger aid stations and rested for a few minutes and downed some noodles. Started running again and within 2ks it had come back. At the top of a hill I decided to let my position slide and try to shake it out for 20-30 minutes with squats and stretches. It killed me just to let people pass. Similar to before, the pain came straight back but faster and worse than ever. I knew at this point that I was pulling out.

The walk of shame back to the aid station was the worst part as so many people were so encouraging and checking in if I was okay. At last I made it back to base and got a lift down to the bus stop with a nice support crew.

At the end of the day, I was sure I made the right call to pull out. It only kills me now as I look at the results to see and congratulate Alexi on coming overall 3rd. I still had a lot of gas in the tank and weirdly was walking fine, just couldn’t run.

I steeled myself and knew I had something to learn from this experience. Sharks can only move forward, I need to channel my inner shark.

What's up doc?

Without ranting too much about how long and drawn out the process was to see doctors / physios / radiologists / etc…. I decided I should get some specialist medical assessments.

BAD: MUST see a GP to get a referral. Seems to take longer than a week to get a booking…
GOOD: Opted in to get an MRI scan ($500 cost but $380 returned through Medicare)
GOOD: MRI report comes back with a lot of detail. but quite complex. Google and youtube help diagnose
BAD: GP is supposed to interpret the results but literally has no idea so just reads back the report word for word and suggests seeing a specialise.
GOOD: Youtube / Google doctors and physios have lots of remedies which I was following most of the 3 weeks prior to finally getting the MRI report.

The words ‘Chronic’ and ‘ACL’ scared me to see them here – however I know they’re most likely from previous injuries and I was running with them earlier. So ruling them out it’s surely ITB syndrome and Google diagnosis suggested.

Rehab = Stretching and Strengthening

A few of the materials that really helped me.

Stretch ITD with towel/belt
Quad stretch
Strengthen for 1 legged squats
Ankle / shin flexibility and mobility

I try to do most of these every day even if it’s short – better than nothing.

1 month later...

I rested for almost 4 weeks and maybe 5 cancelled physio appointments before deciding it was time to test it out. The stretching has really helped and no pain although I’ll admit I’ve probably overdone it with almost 60ks in the last 5 days.

The Race

Preparation

Run, a lot
Buy all the gear you need – ensure mandatory kit
Bag pack – make sure it all fits
Eating bulk food leading in and during
Preparing listening materials
Walking Kelli through the plan – start hard, consistent throughout the night
Get to the start line EARLY

Start 9am Saturday 21 May 2022

Very happy with the starting first 30Ks. Blitzed it and got out in a solid leading pack.
Kelli said she saw me on the tracker in first place at one point, yay
The trail disappeared and terrain very tough
Literally one point saying ‘this can’t be the way, it’s too insane’. Turns out it was the way and my hesitation cost me ~20mins
Razorback ridge AMAZING

Aid Station 1: Standley Chasm around 630pm and dark

Currently in 3rd place
First time seeing Kelli ~8-9 hours in
Maybe in darker spirits knowing it was almost certain I was running all night.
The next 40 to the aid station weren’t as difficult as the previous 60 but I struggled to keep a running rhythm.
Cain (4th) caught up and boosted me through a Canyon. One of the legends last races as he gives back time to his family.
Once he left it was just myself… Bit daunting, so started LotR 1 audiobook. Scary witch kings, orcs, forest, barrow downs, willow.
Lost on the track then mr Speed Dealer (5th) overtook me. He was on speed big time. The aid station person put his condition down as ‘Hungry’

Aid Station 1: 103K and around 3am

Currently in 5th or 6th place
Kelli was asleep in the car
Final big aid station I did a shoe change and caught a 2nd wind then lost it. Then caught a final in the 10k end.
Views probably would’ve been amazing and that’s the real loss here. Esp. near the end on euro ridge where I could see nothing.
Kelli paced me the final 5 and almost took me down the wrong road lol
End at sunrise. Wasn’t completely dead.
Good time but feel I left a lot out there with the lost running
Results

Post Race

Snuck into a campground to shower – that was hard
Smashed a huge KFC feast
I slept in the car as Kelli drove us to Uluru for our flight back to Sydney the next day – what a legend she is!
Ankle / shin muscle or tendon issues plagued me for the next few weeks, next race is BTU110K in ~6 weeks post race!