Pictures of Nagasaki, Japan - Sapphire Princess Cruise Ship -A Passenger Cruise Review
Our visit to Nagasaki prior to boarding the Sapphire Princess for our cruise and review was memorable.
Never thought I would be visiting ground zero in Nagasaki where the 2nd atomic bomb was dropped in world war II, but there we were.
Here is a short history of Nagasaki, the dropping of the atomic bomb, and then on to the photos and our description and review of our visit
Before resuming our passenger cruise review lets learn a little about Nagasaki, where the Atomic bomb was dropped in World War II. It will make the visit to Nagasaki more interesting
Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture in Japan. It is located on the south-western coast of Kyushu, the southernmost of the four main Japanese islands. It was a center of European influence in medieval Japan from first contact through the isolationist era until the opening of Japan and the resultant modernization of Japan during the Meiji Restoration.
It became a major Imperial Japanese Navy base during the First Sino-Japanese
War and Russo-Japanese War and eventually was the second city on which an atomic
bomb was dropped by the United States during World War II.
Nagasaki lies at the head of a long bay which forms the best natural harbor on
the island of Kyushu. The main commercial and residential area of the city lies
on a small plain near the end of the bay. Two rivers divided by a mountain spur
form the two main valleys in which the city lies. The heavily built-up area of
the city is confined by the terrain to less than 4 square miles.
As of 2004 the population of the city is 447,419 and its size in square
kilometers is 338.72 or about 130 sq. mi making it a fairly large city by
Japanese standards in relation to its population level.
On 9 August 1945, Nagasaki was the target of the world's second atomic
bomb attack at 11:02 a.m., when the north of the city was destroyed and an
estimated 75,000 people were killed.
We also found it interesting that the Sapphire Princess was actually coming home to Nagasaki since both the Sapphire and the Diamond were built at the Mitusbishi Shipyard in Nagasaki.
These are random pictures taken of the harbor and street scenes taken from our
tour bus on the way to the Memorial Peace Park and the Atomic Bomb Museum.
 View of our arrival at the port from our balcony aboard the ship |
 Picture of the port at Nagasaki Japan |
 Plenty of boat traffic in the harbor. |
| . | ||
 |
 |
 |
| We go under an impressive bridge. | ||
 Picture of the port from the balcony on the Sapphire Princess cruise ship |
 Pictures of the port at Nagasaki |
 Pictures of cranes in the port |
 Photo from the balcony of the ship. |
 A fireboat greets us with an impressive display of water works. |
 The tug boats maneuver around us. |
 The tug boat gives us a little push. |
 Get off the boat. OK, the cruise ship |
 picture of our buses for our tours of Nagasaki |
| . | . | |
 And start taking pictures through the bus window. |
 Photos of Nagasaki from our bus window |
 picture of street in Nagaskai |
 This is the house of an American doctor involved in the aftermath of the bombing. |
 Little shops and markets line the streets. |
 pictures of the streets of Nagasaki Japan from our tour bus window |
 Here is some kind of school...looks like maybe a kindergarten. |
 picture of Nagasaki street |
 Interesting building |
 |
 |
 |
| If you look closely you can see an archway with only a right side standing. The left side was blown away by the atomic bomb. | ||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 Interesting street scenes in Nagasaki Japan |
 |
 Interesting buildings. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Uniformed school children hanging out or waiting for something. | Look...the ship is visible between those buildings. |
