The mysterious ghost town on the island of Hashima in Japan

Once the most densely populated place in the world, the island of Hashima in Japan is today an abandoned place that gives chills in the back!

Among the places the most unusual and abandoned in the world , the island of Hashima is not in the rest. How did a dynamic city become so deserted? In the space of 40 years, the inhabitants have completely abandoned the place, allowing vegetation to regain its rights and time to work slowly but surely.

At the time of emancipation

In the early 19th century, the island of Hashima, also known in the Japan under the name of Gunkanjima, is a small island still uninhabited. At the end of the 19th century, Mitsubishi bought this island and decided to install its workforce, including minors who were responsible for coal mining.

Until the 1930s, the island of Hashima will flourish and grow until it has the proportions it currently has, becoming a semi-artificial island.

Prosperity continued to grow until the 1950s and 60s, where more than 5,000 inhabitants were permanently residing on the island, equivalent to 6.3 hectares of land, becoming one of the most densely populated areas with 83,500 inhabitants/km2.

But the 1970s sounded the ice of the island and the time of decline began inexorably: in the face of oil shocks and the decline of coal, the island was gradually abandoned to be completely abandoned in 1974.

Prohibited to the public until the end of the 2000s, it reopens its doors after significant development work has been carried out.

An impressive abandoned town

The island that resembles a Japanese leather-cooked years, from which its nickname “ Gunkanjima” (cooked island) reminds of the remains of an ancient urban battle rather than a real weapon of war.

Long 480 meters wide and 160 meters wide, the ghost island of Hashima, located 15 km from the city of Nagasaki, today houses the remains of the first large concrete buildings of Japan.

The visitor who goes to Hashima has the impression that the Four Riders of Revelation have passed by: abandoned to the elements, especially to the passages of the various typhoons that cross the bay of Nagasaki, the island leaves an image of desolation that is both terrible and beautiful.

It is not a coincidence that the cinema has taken over this lost place to make it the background of one of its most famous films, namely James Bond “Skyfall”. It is on this island that the rival of Agent 007 has erected his secret ring.

Ideal for drawing a natural scenery for disaster films, the island of Hashima now attracts visitors: indeed, on Google Street View , it is possible for you from your couch to walk in this ghost town.

How to visit the island of Hashima?

In 2011, 300,000 people followed the guided tour of the island, which is limited to a well-equipped journey. This circuit lasts about 3 hours (one hour on the island) and various tourist agencies in Nagasaki offer it. The tram stops of Ohato and Ourakaikandori on line 1, lead to the stops Nagasaki Port Ferry Terminal and Tokiwa Terminal, from where you can go to visit the island.

Main photo credit: monnet-kineko