長崎旅情（Nagasaki Urban Trip）
Aug 23, 2022
The real name of this island, called Gunkanjima, is Hashima Island. It started out as just a small reef, but when coal was discovered on that small reef in 1810 and coal mining began in earnest in the 1890s, the island’s area expanded rapidly through land reclamation. Soon, Japan’s first reinforced concrete housing complex was built there for coal miners and their families, and it was equipped with all the facilities necessary for daily life, including hospitals, schools, temples, barbershops, pachinko parlors, mahjong parlors, and social halls. It was like a city, and at its peak, more than 5,000 people lived on the island, making it the most densely populated in the world. It was called Gunkanjima “it means battle ship island” because of its majestic appearance, which resembled a battle ship.
However, after 1960, the global shift from coal to oil led to a decline in the coal mining industry, and the coal mines on Hashima Island closed in 1974.
Since then, the island has been visited only by a few ruin enthusiasts, but in the 2000s, momentum grew to protect the island as a cultural asset, and ordinary tourists were able to come ashore. It was not until 2015 that it was registered as a World Heritage site.
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