Oura Cathedral & Glover Garden 大浦天主堂

Oura Cathedral, located in Nagasaki at Kyushu prefecture, is the oldest church in Japan completed in December 1864. It was designated as a National Treasure on 23 Jan 1933. This church is also named as "Church of the 26 Japanese Martyrs".

大浦天主堂位於九州的長崎。建於1864年，是日本最古老的一棟教堂。1933年時被認定為國寶，正式名字為“26聖殉教者天主堂”。

How Christianity spread in Japan was largely credited to a Spanish missionary, Francis Xavier, who arrived on Kagoshima island in 1549. However it was later banned in 1587 due to feudal lord, Toyotomi Hideyoshi's fear that Christianity was a barrier to his plan of uniting the whole of Japan. Centuries after his death, the country was re-opened and Christians, who went into hiding, came out. Nagasaki, which was the heart of Christianity activity, still remains as a prefecture with majority of its population as Christians.

－中文省略 XD －

Nearby is Glover garden, a beautiful reside of famous Scottish merchant, Thomas Blake Glover. He had helped Japan to build up her industrialization during the Meiji period and set up companies like Mitsubishi and Kirin that we know today.
離教堂附近是Glover園。這地方原本是著名蘇格蘭商人，Thomas Blake Glover的別墅。他曾經在明治時代時幫助日本走向工業發展，並開設現在大家都知道的三葉集團和Kirin釀酒廠。

From the close proximity between the cathedral and residence, I can sense the close relationship between Christianity and trade. Both were introduced and conducted at the same time.
從近距離來看，可以感覺得到基督教和貿易的緊密關係。因為兩者當時都是同時進行的。

There were even escalators on the hill to bring us up!?
山上也有自動扶梯!?

We can see the nearby port, again a reminder of the link between Nagasaki and it's active role in trading.
上面可看到附近的港口，想起長崎在早期的日本貿易中，代表著重要的角色。

Well I wish this was my mansion...
真希望這是我的毫宅啊～

If I can eat this everyday... ... (I will never be able to slim down).
假如天天都能這樣吃... ..(我會永遠瘦不下來)

The exit was down a building, which was the Nagasaki Traditional Arts Museum.
這往下的出口是長崎傳統藝術美術館的入口。

We didn't have much time, so I think these were carts that peasants carry around during festivals.
我們沒什麼時間，所以我想這些木花車應該是平民在節日的時候抬的吧？

We had lunch at a nearby restaurant and the spread of dishes is called Shippoku. Basically they were Nagasaki dishes which were inherited from China due to the influence of early trading between these two countries. However, I find that our Singaporean hawker food is way much better than these.
我們在附近的餐廳吃了一頓叫“卓袱”的料理。基本上這些長崎料理是早期日本和中國進行貿易時被傳過來的。不過...我還是覺得我們新加坡的雜菜飯比這些來得好吃多了！