Hashima Island

Hashima, known as Gunkanjima or "Battleship Island" for its warship-like silhouette, lies about 18 kilometres off Nagasaki. Undersea coal mining developed here from the late nineteenth century under Mitsubishi, and the tiny island was packed with high-rise concrete apartments, schools and shops; at its 1959 peak nearly 5,300 people lived there, among the highest densities ever recorded. During the wartime years, Korean and Chinese labourers were among those made to work under harsh and, for many, forced conditions. The mine closed in 1974 and the island was abandoned within months.

Left to the sea and weather, Hashima's roofless towers and crumbling walkways have made it one of the world's most striking ruins, and it gained fame as a filming inspiration, including for the 2012 James Bond film Skyfall. Its desolation has earned it the label of a "ghost island", and visitors often describe an eerie, melancholy atmosphere among the decaying blocks, understandable impressions of a place emptied so suddenly rather than anything supernatural.

Inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2015 as part of the "Sites of Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution", Hashima is a remarkable record of industrialisation and dense urban living. It is also a site of contested memory: the experience of Korean and other conscripted labourers is an essential part of its history and remains the subject of international discussion. The island is best appreciated with that fuller history in mind.

Hashima cannot be visited independently; landing is possible only on organised boat tours run by licensed operators from Nagasaki, and even then access is limited to a short designated walkway because the buildings are structurally unstable. Tours run several times daily, require advance reservation and a signed safety waiver, and are frequently cancelled or reduced to a cruise-only viewing when sea conditions are poor.

Journeys take roughly 30 to 50 minutes each way. Visitors should plan for weather-related uncertainty, follow operators' safety instructions closely, and treat the island as both a heritage site and a place tied to difficult wartime history. The Gunkanjima Digital Museum in Nagasaki and Nagasaki's official tourism resources provide further context.