my first attempt to visit gunkanjima was in 2013. it would have been a pretty grim november visit: wet, a bit cold, overcast, and, well, altogether novembery. seats on the boat to battleship island had been booked well in advance with the rather pessimistic proviso that the intended visit would take place strictly weather permitting because only in calm seas could a safe landing on the island be risked. that day the weather was so bad and visibility so poor, that even a trip around the island was deemed unsafe, and on that occasion my desired excursion was cancelled. i didn’t try again until july 2024, from whence, these images.
known universally to local residents as battleship island — gunkanjima (the formal official name is hashima or ‘edge island’), since its loss of function as a working coalmining complex it has become a popular attraction for enthusiasts of dark tourism (among whose number, i would definitely not include myself) either on a tour, or unofficially with the attendant risks; the island superstructure is literally disintegrating and collapsing.
coal was first discovered under the tiny (less than 2Km² in area) volcanic outcrop in the early 19th century. the first undersea coalmining began in the 1880s. the mitsubishi corporation opened the first industrialised mine in the early 1900s at the height of the meiji era modernisation and industrialisation of japan. as operations started to expand during the 1920s, and then with rapid intensification during japan’s radical militarism and imperialist expansion, leading up to wwii.
in the post-war years the mitsubishi corporation rapidly intensified and and expanded its undersea operations as a part of what came to be known as the japanese industrial ‘miracle’. coal production peaked during the late 1950s and early 1960s with the resident population of the island increasing to somewhere between five and a half to over 6,000. on an island of less than 2Km of habitable ground area it was claimed to be the most densely populated place on earth. mitsubishi’s solution to this was a rapid expansion of high-density high-rise building, culminating in what amounted to a tiny city, with its own schools, dentists, doctors and hospital, as well as a few bars and gaming centres, even a baseball team.
as japan switched from coal as the main energy source during the 1960s, to oil-based power, coal mining on the island fell into a steep decline and in 1974 the coal mine closed, mitsubishi withdrew, and in a matter of just a few weeks the island had become completely abandoned.
in 2009, short supervised sightseeing visits to the island were officially allowed, weather permitting, and the island has enjoyed something of an afterlife, for tourist visits, and as a dramatic film location, appearing as javier bardem’s evil villain’s lair in the 2015 james bond movie skyfall, and a number of other action movies. hardly surprising given the decaying, dark grey interior labyrinth.
tourist visits to the island are closely supervised, with a heavily statistics-laden guide commentary. on my visit, there was a japanese language only commentary, and i missed out on the english version, i suspect i wasn’t missing much more than i could easily look up online.
before embarkation from nagasaki’s port, visitors are encouraged to visit the small museum (admission included in the price of the tour ticket) where an introductory commentary is given. on the day i was there it was led by a former resident of the island, again in japanese language only. i understand that translations are available.
while not exactly shying away from the hardships endured by japanese workers and their families on the island, there was scant mention of the slavery and forced labour carried out by korean, chinese, and other prisoners of war during the japanese imperialist period, culminating in the pacific and east asian theatres during the 1930s and wwii.
in 2015 the island was designated a UNESCO world heritage site as part of a number of locations included in “sites of japan’s meiji industrial revolution”. given it’s dark history of imprisonment , forced labour and slavery, there should be no surprise this was met with considerable protest from the affected countries as well as a significant amount of domestic opposition.
on the day i visited, in july 2024, the sky was a pristine crystal blue, and the sun was tropical hot. perfect photography weather. i’ve often wondered how different a character these images might have, had i visited as i first attempted on that foggy day, in choppy seas, in november 2013
