I got on the bus thinking it was going one way but it ended up going in an entirely different direction. My day was ruined for about 30 minutes, but the kindness of the bus driver and the person in charge of the Dozaki Church museum made things better. I headed back to the center of town with a rosary, some postcards, and the memory of a beautiful brick church on the coast – the same coast where storms came through that would cause enough damage that it could not be registered as a World Heritage site. Which makes it easier to visit, in the end. After having lunch at a restaurant Tora-san ate lunch, I made my way to Tamanoura, where Tora-san also I went. Getting off at a church with the oldest Lourdes grotto in Japan, I walked the few kilometers down the coast to Tamanoura Church, where Tora-san once passed by. Everything else in the town that Tora-san visited had changed. The church was still the same, though. As I was taking photos someone came by to lock it up – so I had made it just in time! I wandered down to the red lighthouse where Tora-san had also been. No one was around, just me and the waves crashing into the sea. I had now been to Abashiri where Tora spent time thinking while looking at the Hat Rock and the Goto Islands where Tora looked out into the sea next to the red lighthouse.
I woke up before dawn to go to Mass at Nakamachi Church. I left early enough to first go to Nishizaka Hill, where the Twenty-Six Martyrs of Japan were executed in 1597. I checked out, went to the local department store, Hamaya, to get my shirt with its newly sewed buttons, some food for lunch, and chatting with someone while standing outside of Pompadour (yes, there is a Pompadour bakery in Nagasaki!), I headed down to the ferry terminal. (Though I first tried to buy some local pudding for my wife just to discover the shop was temporarily closed today.) Sailing during a rainstorm made for some beautiful views but I decided to stay inside and read and scroll after slipping on the deck. I bought a one day bus ticket for tomorrow, walked down to the surprisingly large Fukue Church, where I got my first official pilgrimage stamp. I was happy to find out they have daily mass at 8am but sad to see it was canceled tomorrow, and only tomorrow. When I got back to the hotel I found out the owner's aunt was in the scene in Tora-san 35 that was filmed at Aosagaura Catholic Church.
I started the day by going to Palm Sunday Mass at Urakami Cathedral. I first came here eight years ago to attend Easter Vigil Mass. The original cathedral was the largest in Asia. It was destroyed after the US dropped an atomic bomb on it — the cathedral was only 500 meters from the hypocenter. I lingered a bit after Mass and chatted with some parishioners before turning around and seeing a large number of tourists gathered in the back of the church behind a rope. I walked down to the Dr. Takashi Nagai Memorial Hall. It is small but it made clear and concrete the affects of war, especially atomic weapons. I bought a bilingual copy of Nagai's most famous work, The Bells of Nagasaki. I walked through the Peace Park to Nagasaki's Atomic Bomb Museum. It was my first time there although this is my third time to Nagasaki city.
In the afternoon I went to Oura Cathedral and the new museum built in the old seminary on the grounds. I didn't have much time but that ended up not being a problem, in the end. A free pork bun sample led me to having a full sized pork bun before having dinner at the new development near Dejima. I tried to go to a jazz kissa that I read about in Monocle Magazine but found it closed so I found an old coffee shop with a cat and spent some time there. I took a photo of Megane (Spectacles) Bridge before heading off to my hotel for bed.
I left Hiroshima before dawn so I could stop off at Yamaguchi. The clerk at the church bookstore asked if I was there because of the New York Times. I had to be honest and said no, as I was there to visit her church. the Yamaguchi Xavier Memorial Church. I had just enough time to visit the church and walk through the Xaiver museum.
I enjoyed rereading Joerg Rieger's Faith on the Road in the afternoon.
As I got close to Nagasaki that evening the rain became heavier but luckily the train didn't stop. I did take taxi to the hotel, where I arrived just in time to see Tora-san meet Sachiko Kobayashi in the mountains above Shimabara as Tora-san 47 ended on it's weekly TV showing.
In the morning i went to Mass at the The Memorial Cathedral of World Peace, where I was volunteered to read the 12th station during the Stations of the Cross. In the early afternoon I cycled around Hiroshima and eventually ended up at an excellent chocolate shop. I ended the day by spending a few hours at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. It was my first time to Hiroshima and the Peace Museum in 29 years.
I left my home in Sagamihara at dawn and got to Hiroshima 823 kilometers to the west just before 10 pm.
Something I saw while visiting Hattori Ranch here in Sagamihara
I discovered a traditional Japanese coffee shop in Atsugi today. I didn't know anything like this was near Hon Atsugi Station. I'll be sure to go back.