(Before my story starts, I’d like to put in a plug for Couchsurfing.org. I used it both in Nagasaki and Kumamoto and met two really cool people. Sign up, host, surf! It’s awesome!)
My flight left Tokyo for Nagasaki at 7:30 a.m. on Monday morning. Having spent an almost-sleepless night in Tokyo the night before (“gotta get up in 6 hours . . . gotta get up in 5 hours . . . “) I was obviously exhausted. But I slept a little on the plane and managed to be fairly coherent by the time I met my previously-arranged tour guide in front of the Atomic Bomb Museum at noon.
I was prepared for the museum to leave me breathless and teary with its stories of massive death and destruction, but unfortunately all I felt was annoyed at the sexagenarian who was accompanying me. She was a kind enough lady, and certainly knew a lot about the subject, but she had a tendency to just read the posted plaques beside the displays without giving much extra information. After she talked, she looked at me pointedly as if she expected some kind of intelligent reply, but all I could do was murmur politely, “That must have been horrible,” over and over again. Her presence ended up being more of a distraction than a help, and I kind of wished the whole time to be left alone so I could immerse myself in the history at my own pace. When it comes to something as monumental as war, I need time to think about it on my own.
We did do one thing that I would never have known about on my own: in a hard-to-find corner of the National Atomic Bomb Museum, she sat me down in front of a computer and said, “You can record a message that will be kept here for the next ten years.” So I had my digital picture taken and penned a hopeful-sounding message to the people of the future. Maybe I’ll return in a few years and look myself up, if the world is still standing.
After the museum, she took me to the atomic bomb hypocenter, the place where the bomb actually exploded. Now it’s a green park with flourishing trees and memorial statues dotting the place. It was sprinkling lightly but with a jacket and umbrella it wasn’t too cold. We strolled around Peace Park as well, admiring the gifts of various statues from around the world. As we walked, we chatted somewhat amicably in English (and surprisingly, in Spanish!), but I could never reach beyond her tour guide personality into what she really thought about things. Maybe that’s what bothered me—that we couldn't have a real conversation. It was just, “Look at this, look at that.”
Three hours after we started (we also saw a cathedral) we said goodbye back at the front door of the museum. For 1,000 yen, I had learned a lot about Nagasaki’s history and the horror of the atomic bomb, but I honestly feel that it would have been a better experience left to my own devices.
Luckily, I had the next 48 hours to be by myself.
***
I’ve only traveled by myself once before, when I was 21 and in Spain for a month and a half. I was supposed to meet a friend in Granada, but she backed out at the last minute, so I went by myself. Even though I ended up meeting some really awesome people at the pension I stayed at, the first night of having dinner by myself in a crowded plaza was unpleasant at best.
Eight years later, I only felt self-confident and assured as I guided myself around the city. Armed with just a tourist map and my iPhone, my 20-pound backpack and I checked out all the cool things Nagasaki has to offer in a day and a half. Prior to my original belief, this city is NOT just the site of the atomic bombing in World War II. It’s a hip, cool, interesting, city with a history of international immigration. You can walk to many of the tourist sites, or take a tram/streetcar for 120 yen no matter how far you go. So I checked out Dejima (the site of a 17th c. Dutch factory), Hollander Slope (more Dutch), Western-style houses, Glover Garden (home of a famous Scottish man), Chinatown (obvious), several Catholic cathedrals, and, one of the few Japanese things, Temple Row. I also bought a castella pound cake (a Portuguese delicacy) at the oldest shop in town—and ate more than half of it myself. 
Just walking down the streets in Nagasaki had such a good feel to them. The city isn’t too big, isn’t too small, it’s just right! And the springtime weather, after the harsh Gunma winter, was a welcome relief. However, time’s a wasting; we've gotta board the bus for Kumamoto.
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