Japan has some of the quirkiest tourist experiences—from a recent $1 hotel with a bizarre catch to the world’s smallest park. So it’s no surprise that it’s also home to a dark tourist magnet, the warship-shaped Hashima Island.
Also known as Gunkanjima (Japanese for Battleship Island), the once-thriving city is now a crumbling concrete relic in the middle of the East China Sea, just off the coast of Nagasaki Prefecture.
In 2015, Hashima Island was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Site list, six years after it first opened for tours. Here’s a closer look at the island’s dark history, as well as its current haunting state.
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The “Ghost Island” Of Hashima In Japan Is Now A Dark Tourism Magnet
You can take boat tours to the eerie Hashima Island in Japan
Hashima Island was bought by Mitsubishi in 1890, eight decades after coal was first discovered there. The purchase marked a rapid industrialization that made the island a prosperous coal mining town until Japan switched to petroleum energy in the 1960s, driving the inhabitants away in 1974.
In 2002, the company transferred the island’s ownership to Takashima Town, which was later absorbed by Nagasaki in 2005. The city attempted to develop the island but gave up due to costs, eventually opening Hashima for tourism in all its glorious decay.
The island is now a striking industrial cluster, like the creepy Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay. It’s dense with eerie corroded structures, along with overgrown vegetation.
Today, you can book a morning boat tour to Hashima Island and walk around its dilapidated buildings that were once homes, a hospital, schools, stores, and even a temple. Advanced reservation is required, with tours lasting between 1.5 to nearly 3 hours.
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Hashima Island Was A Rich Coal Mining Town With A Sinister Secret
Korean laborers were forced to work in Hashima during Japan’s colonial rule
Hashima Island wasn’t a luxury town, but rich executives of Mitsubishi lived there along with their families in the early 20th century. There was a significant wealth gap between the company heads and the miners.
While the execs lived in high-rise buildings, the workers were cramped in prison-like housing. During the Japanese colonial rule over Korea (1910-1945), about 500 to 800 Korean laborers were brought there to work in dehumanizing conditions.
Seo Jung-woo, who was forced to work on the island at age 14, later revealed in 1983:
“Among my colleagues, about 40 people drowned while trying to break out from the island or committed suicide.”
Another Korean survivor, Lee In-woo, said in 2017
“There was a small island next to Hashima called the ‘crematory.’ It’s where laborers who died under such cruel circumstances were laid to rest.”
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Only 5% Of Hashima Island Is Open To Tourists Due To Safety Concerns
Some areas on Hashima Island are off-limits due to harsh, neglected conditions
Most of Hashima Island is still off-limits to tourists due to risks of collapse. Aside from neglect, the surrounding saltwater accelerates the structures’ deterioration. The buildings were built poorly to begin with, due to rushed demand during its coal mining heyday.
The coal tunnels of the island are no longer accessible due to similar natural exposures. Today, visitors get close enough to photograph the eroding man-made sea wall, decrepit apartments, and moldering schoolhouse.
However, tourists are only allowed to walk on a designated pathway that is just one-eighth of the island. The guided tours ensure that no one wanders around the closed areas.
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Hashima Island is certainly a unique place to visit when you’re in Japan. Even if you’re not a dark tourism enthusiast, its historical significance and the stunning Nagasaki landscape are still great reasons to go (especially as Japan just started offering free flights to tourists).
AloJapan.com