Asahi Shimbun
Dilapidated buildings and piles of rubble greet participants on a recent media tour to Gunkanjima (battleship island), an abandoned former coal mining community in Nagasaki. The island has been included in a tentative list of candidates for designation as a UNESCO World Heritage site by the Cultural Affairs Agency, along with other former industrial sites in surrounding prefectures. Officially known as Hashima island, it was a major source of coal until the mine closed in 1974. In its heyday, more than 5,000 people inhabited the island, whose contours resemble a battleship. While Hashima is currently off-limits, the city of Nagasaki plans to open it to the public next spring.
Gunkanjima at one point had the highest population density in the world, but now it is a ghost town. Wikipedia article here; slideshow of very evocative photos taken just before abandonment here; another slideshow by the same photographer showing the island in recent years here. |