View From the Top

It’s a bit strange, isn’t it? After spending five years here as a foreign resident, I am now officially a tourist in Nagasaki.

Perhaps it’s because of my former status as a resident that I became blind to just what else is out there for me to see in this city. My work tended to be mentally and physically exhausting, and I’d be too drained to explore Nagasaki properly during the weekend.

I do have over a month left here in Nagasaki, and while I still have quite a fair bit of packing and organising to do, I can at least share places that aren’t quite in the tourist guides for overseas visitors.

I need to thank my former supervisors at the Nagasaki City Board of Education for inspiring the first post in this unofficial series. All I can say is this:

Go to the top floor of the new City Hall building.

Trust me on this one.

In the foreground, you can see a hand holding a bottle of coffee. That’s not what’s important, though. Beyond the window, you can see plenty of rooftops, and beyond that, a suspension bridge across the mouth of a harbour.

It’s a bright sunny day with white clouds and a light-blue sky. You can see plenty of buildings into the yonder, with mountains to the left and in the background of the picture. If you look carefully to the left, you can see Suwa Shrine, a noted “Power Spot” in Nagasaki City.

Ignoring the obvious reflection of the glass panel, you can see buildings going into the yonder and around a mountain in the left mid-ground of the picture.