SSAB - May 18, 2026

Hey Happy Birthday to me… podcast!

Welcome to Nagasaki! What a trip! Forgot the PIN to my credit card so it took a little work to get everything booked. Cashier only took cash or card, no tap. Luckily another service staff member helped me book the ticket online. That way, you enter the card number and a password then use that same card to pick up the tickets at the station. A run around but it got done. Maybe should have taken the night bus

Why Nagasaki? Very good question. Why not? The bomb exploded here and I wanted to see what the city was like these days. I was in Hiroshima ten years ago so figured Nagasaki would be a good complement.

Got in very late, bad planning on my behalf. But I wanted a full day in the city, guess I could have stayed overnight in Osaka and then taken the first train out in the morning.

Stayed at Toyoko Inn, good for the late check in, but to renew was expensive so I found a hostel down the street at half the cost. Not only that, Belleview hotel was locked when I got in and later in the morning when I checked they said book it on the app, it’s cheaper. Mostly digital checking out and amenities are left at the front desk.

Atomic bomb museum, how was it? Gentle. They do make it a point to show how the bombs destroyed human lives, but they also put it in the context of why it happened: the Japanese were expanded their empire in the Pacific and that put them in conflict with a bunch of other countries.

The city was largely rebuilt after the bombs were dropped, shown by a pair of pictures showing the city after the bomb and then again in 1950.

It’s hot here, and that bomb was dropped in August. I can only imagine how much worse it would have been. Not only that, a lot of the declarations and policies weren’t signed or put into effect until the 1980s or later… the US was testing a nuke every week for the last forty years!

And hey, how was the rest of Osaka?

-Got the Osaka Castle run done! Twelve kms all up in 1hr 27min.

-Got kicked out of a bar! Nihongo? Nope. Out. Sorry! So kept walking and found a taco bar. Stopped there for a feed and a few.

-Then found another okonomiyaki place along the main road. The cook/owner knew some English as did one of the older patrons. So we sat and tried to communicate.

-I forgot to tell you about the bird at Osaka Castle!

What have you been eating?

-Soft boiled eggs from the Family Mart

-Milk

-McDonalds Samurai Burger

-Starbucks coffee, cinnamon bun and donut

-Sushi and vegetables from the store

-Okonomiyaki = fried pork and squid

yaki = fried

soba = noodles

teppan = flat iron board

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Hope you have a great one!!

00:00 Birthday Bench Intro

01:56 Osaka to Nagasaki Missteps

03:41 Late Arrival Hotel Shuffle

06:35 Why Nagasaki Matters

07:39 No Japanese No Problem

08:43 Ticketing PIN Disaster

11:35 Train Staff Saves the Day

13:54 Transfers and Shinkansen Notes

17:47 First Impressions of Nagasaki

19:07 Atomic Bomb Museum Visit

20:33 Rebuilding and Hard Reflections

23:47 Museum Context Matters

24:22 Japan’s Imperial Past

26:03 Nuclear Tests Aftermath

27:10 Climate Change Rant

27:47 Donations And Wrap

28:08 Hypocenter Landmarks

30:10 Livestream At Ground Zero

31:49 Green City And Safety

33:55 Next Stops Itinerary

35:14 Osaka Bar Rejection

37:11 Late Night Food Crawl

41:13 Whiskey Gift Hunt

43:23 Osaka Castle Birders

45:05 Five Years Of Podcasting

46:21 Final Sign Off