Hashima, more commonly known as Gunkanjima ("Battleship Island"), about 16 kilometres/10 miles off Nagasaki, was once an important coal mining centre. It had a population in the thousands, crammed into closely-packed apartment blocks within an area small enough to give it a population density comparable to Tokyo.
As the mining industry declined, Hashima's importance dwindled, and in 1974 it was abandoned altogether. It has been a ghost island ever since, its remote location securing isolation from wrecking balls and new settlers alike. For many years the island was off limits, but it has been open for tourists since 2009. In 2012, it served as the inspiration for the scene in which 007 first meets Javier Bardem's villain in the Bond film Skyfall.
There are no English-speaking guides at present, but this allowed more time to take photographs - such as the opportunities were. The tour is restricted to a newly-installed walkway on one end of the island only, the end farthest from any buildings. This is presumably for safety reasons. The buildings are crumbling, but seem to have been well tidied at the time the island was deserted - there was no sign of any personal possessions as far as I could see by using my camera to zoom in through the distant windows.
At the end of the walkway you stand around 150 metres from a residential building, from where a kind of high street through the city turns to the left. Here the buildings would have towered above you on either side as you stood in what was once the busiest place on Hashima and an area teeming with life. It was, alas, not possible to see into this street. The buildings at its entrance stared back silently.
After no more than half an hour on Gunkanjima we were once more underway on the boat, sailing past its two biggest buildings, the school and the hospital, on the far side from where we had landed. They would have been fascinating to explore. Instead, we observed the creaking concrete from afar and wondered about what might have been.
As the mining industry declined, Hashima's importance dwindled, and in 1974 it was abandoned altogether. It has been a ghost island ever since, its remote location securing isolation from wrecking balls and new settlers alike. For many years the island was off limits, but it has been open for tourists since 2009. In 2012, it served as the inspiration for the scene in which 007 first meets Javier Bardem's villain in the Bond film Skyfall.
There are no English-speaking guides at present, but this allowed more time to take photographs - such as the opportunities were. The tour is restricted to a newly-installed walkway on one end of the island only, the end farthest from any buildings. This is presumably for safety reasons. The buildings are crumbling, but seem to have been well tidied at the time the island was deserted - there was no sign of any personal possessions as far as I could see by using my camera to zoom in through the distant windows.
At the end of the walkway you stand around 150 metres from a residential building, from where a kind of high street through the city turns to the left. Here the buildings would have towered above you on either side as you stood in what was once the busiest place on Hashima and an area teeming with life. It was, alas, not possible to see into this street. The buildings at its entrance stared back silently.
After no more than half an hour on Gunkanjima we were once more underway on the boat, sailing past its two biggest buildings, the school and the hospital, on the far side from where we had landed. They would have been fascinating to explore. Instead, we observed the creaking concrete from afar and wondered about what might have been.
