Greetings, everyone.

Well, last week, Doug got it into his head to go to Nagasaki for the annual Lantern Festival. So, after a four-hour drive and a night at a love hotel, here we are. During the Tokugawa Shogunate (I'll edit in the dates later), this city was the only place where foreigners were allowed to come in contact with Japan. The second Tokugawa shogun (I'll add his name later, too) put this restriction into effect. Soon after, contact was further restricted to just the Dutch only, and they had to stay on an artificial island built in the harbor. This island, Dejima, is now a historic site, but Nagasaki has grown around it.

Of course, Nagasaki is also the second city to be hit with a nuclear bomb. I chose not to go to the peace park and museum. I don't think I could deal with that today.

Nagasaki has a very large and interesting Chinatown, and that's where we're staying. The streets are liberally bedecked with lanterns, and they look very impressive. I assume they'll look even more impressive when the sun has set and they are all lit. Jamie and I saw the king and queen of the festival (?) carried into the main park on palanquins. Very impressive.

I've only got a few minutes at this internet cafe left, so I'll wrap it up for now. I hope to hear from you all soon....