Hashima, also called gunkanjima (“warship island"), due to its similarity in shape to the battleship Tosa, is an island off the coast of Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. It was home to one of Japan's most productive mining sites.
The island was colonized by the Japanese starting in 1887 due to the presence of a coal deposit, although the presence of the mineral on the island had been known since 1810. In 1890 (see next photo), Mitsubishi purchased the entire island and expanded the existing mine with the intention of extracting coal from the deposits that extended under the seabed. In the years immediately following, intensive exploitation of the mineral deposit began and Mitsubishi financed the simultaneous construction of the first homes for the workers who were increasingly flocking to the island.
The expansion phases continued until 1931 and the island's territory was completely occupied by numerous buildings that housed industrial facilities, several condominiums and even a hospital and a school. In those years, the rigid Japanese social organization in Hashima became a sort of hierarchical "caste" organization, where single miners lived separately from those with families who, in turn, were separated from the families of Mitsubishi managers.
During World War II, the island became a labor camp for Chinese and Korean prisoners who were forced to work in the mines, instead of the Japanese miners who were called up by the army to fight at the front. According to some reports, during World War II, the island was torpedoed and bombed by the American Navy, probably deceived by the shape of the island that from the sea appeared very similar to a battleship.
After the damage from the bombings was repaired, workers returned to the Mitsubishi mine after the Second World War and the small surface area of Hashima came to have one of the highest population densities in the world, with 1.391 inhabitants per hectare for the residential area alone and 835 inhabitants per hectare for the entire island, until the peak of the highest population rate was reached in 1959 with over five thousand inhabitants.
In 1974, with the closure of the mining plant, the island was completely abandoned becoming a ghost island.
The climate of the island, today as then, is characterized by strong winds and cyclical storms; furthermore the arid soil did not allow cultivation and therefore there was never the possibility or space for green areas or public gardens. Hashima was a place without bushes, flowers and children grew up without knowing what cherry trees in bloom were.
Even the seasons were perceived differently, recognizing one another only by how the wind blew or the color of the sea. This spectacular scenery, however, also became its fortune: in 2009 the island became accessible again to host short tourist itineraries. Especially for those visiting Nagasaki (about an hour away by boat), Hashima represents a sort of precious photograph of industrial architecture and for this reason in 2015 UNESCO included it among the world heritage sites as one of the 23 most important historical industrial sites.
Director Sam Mendes used the island as inspiration for setting some scenes in the James Bond film “007 Skyfall” (frame).
Photo: Nagasaki Prefectural Library/YouTube/web
