I'm Angela O'Dell and you are listening to real cool history for kids, a podcast show featuring history stories told from a biblical worldview. Welcome to episode 26 of real cool history for kids. This is abandoned places of the world number five.

The history of this episode's abandoned place is really rather interesting.

To learn about it, we must travel around to the other side of the world to the island country of Japan.

Japan is actually a long archipelago of islands in the far eastern hemisphere.

Take a moment now and find it on your world map or globe.

While you are looking, find the island of Nagasaki. We are going to

be close to that island in our exploration of our

and place today. To learn some of the history behind this abandoned place,

we are going to begin our journey back in the year 1853.

In the early 1600s, Japan had decided

to take a nice two century long break from the rest of the world with their

window shades drawn down snugly and their back door locked against any intrusions.

During their long isolation, the Japanese were hardly aware of what was going on in the world around them.

The founding of the British American colonies? The French Revolution? Napoleon's conquest? Well, they all

happened while Japan had her door locked in the window shades drawn. They are in

the coziness of their isolation.

The Japanese went about their lives as if hardly any time at all had passed.

While the rest of the world was riding in the boxcars of the most modern invention, the train.

Japan was not.

While the rest of the world sent telegrams to family and friends far away,

Japan did not.

While the armies of the rest of the world used the latest inventions and arms and ammunition,

...