Gankajima is a ghost island in Japan. Dead city-island Hashima. Photo

I didn’t write this article, but it’s still very good) Those who love abandoned islands, mysterious ruins, Japan will like it. Link to source at the end of the article.

An hour (or so) sailing from Japanese port Nagasaki, is the abandoned island of Hashima. According to unverified information, the name translates as "Border Island". This cliff was once quite inhabited, more precisely, a record inhabited. Hashima has for many years been considered the most densely populated place on Earth: in the second half of the last century, its population density was more than thirteen thousand (13,000) people per square kilometer sushi.

Today, everything that was created by people on this island is quietly collapsing. He became unnecessary new civilization. The facility, created for the residence of coal mining specialists, belonged to Mitsubishi Motors Corporation. The division of the company worked from 1887 until 1974, after which the coal industry fell into decline and mining was stopped forever. A typical single-industry town was left without its only enterprise. The disappearance of jobs left no chance for people to survive and the entire population of Hashima, almost in one day, left their homes. Moreover, because of the cost transport services and their own poverty, people left most of their things here.

Staying on Hashima today is illegal. At first, the government tried, in this way, to protect abandoned dwellings from looting, apparently hoping to find a use for an empty town. Over the years, there was nothing to protect from robbers. Time has destroyed all values without a trace, better than any barbarian. Now visiting this gloomy place is simply dangerous due to the dilapidation of buildings.

(In the original publication, the author claims that the Japanese government does not seek to draw unwanted attention to this object - evidence of the difficulties and mistakes in the industrial development of post-war Japan. However, most likely Japanese officials simply do not want to spend time and money protecting the island from various kinds of extreme people and onlookers - note S. Sh.)

The punishment for visiting Hashima Island (unless, of course, you get caught, which is extremely doubtful) is 30 days in prison (for foreigners, immediate deportation). But, two weeks after arriving in Nagasaki, having agreed with local fishermen, I and a few of my friends, in the early morning, before sunrise, landed on Hashima Island.

The Port of Nagasaki is a major transportation hub where you more chances rent a cruise ship or oil tanker than an ordinary boat. However, we found a fisherman who agreed to break the law for a few greenbacks. The rules of Japanese etiquette are such that you should never directly say what you want. Therefore, even being already on board the boat, we were not sure that we would be able to visit Hashima. Just in case, we prepared for a compromise - and would agree to just inspect it from the water, closer.

Appearing in the field of view of Hashima, obscuring the horizon with gray concrete, immediately reminded the outlines of warship. That's why the island has another name: colloquially it sounds like Gunkanjima, which means "Island of the Battleship" or "Island of Warships".

We approach the shore, moor and conduct long negotiations with the fisherman. Our boatman is reluctant to give us a few hours so that we can leisurely wander around the abandoned city. We agreed that by a certain time he would return and pick us up.

The concrete jungle of Hashima.

The first thing that catches your eye is the skeletons of the facades. In some neighborhoods, the front plates fell off and fell to the ground near entire buildings. The first thing that comes to mind is a supermarket. household appliances in which the lined TVs were smashed. Imagine 70 huge embossed screens ... behind which once there was an ordinary life. It is incomprehensible to the mind how it was possible to live in these stone cells, without the usual streets, squares, parks. It seems that here any person will fall ill with claustrophobia.

Abandoned personal items are found everywhere - old shoes, shampoo bottles, newspapers and even posters left on the walls of the rooms where teenagers lived - these are the most vivid evidence of a person's stay here.

Sophisticated electronic technology.

We explored the empty classrooms of the island's huge school. Rusty metal frames, half-rotten wood. In some places there are almost whole tables and chairs. School board, on which, if desired, you can see the signs and symbols left 30 years ago.

School allowances.

Cool room.

From the top floor of the gymnasium, we looked down at the sports hall, the roof of which had collapsed long before we arrived on the island. Here, for the first time, we clearly realized how dangerous our journey through the floors of these ruins is. We looked under our feet and it became clear that there were slabs on the floor that had fallen from the ceiling. Maybe a long time ago. Or maybe recently...

School sports hall.

Approximately, on the ninth floor of an apartment building, I entered one of the rooms to admire the sea view from the window. Underfoot lay a mat - a traditional Japanese wicker path. Before I could understand what was happening, the support disappeared under my feet and there was a terrible, as it seemed to me at that moment, roar. It looked like the building was collapsing. And I fell...

… from about one meter high. However, this was enough for us to take every next step in this city with all possible precautions.

In fact, the island is quite tiny. Its area is only 1.2 square kilometers. But, being inside the city, you can never feel it. From the windows of buildings of the same height, either neighboring windows or the sea can be seen. We found only one point from where we could see the circular panorama of Hashima - this is a strange watchtower, completely atypical for the surrounding landscape. It was located on the only dominating hill and, despite the apparent simplicity of the ascent, the ascent to it turned out to be so difficult and unobvious that we abandoned this idea.

During our stay in this gloomy place, none of us had an idea what we would do if the fisherman did not return for us. In the morning, we only thought that we only have two hours to tour Hashima. Now, after this time has elapsed, we thought about such a prospect almost simultaneously, without saying a word. True, the fears turned out to be groundless, the boat returned to the appointed place on time.

http://www.shinkareff.ru/news/1/728/mertvyi-gorod-ostrov-hashima/

Japanese island, 18 kilometers off the coast of Nagasaki. Hasima Island is notable for its history. At the end of the 19th century, coal was found on the island, in 1890 the Japanese corporation Mitsubishi acquired the island and began coal mining. In order not to carry miners from Nagasaki every day, it was decided to rebuild on the island small town. In 1915, it was on this island that the first high-rise building in Japan was built.

The island developed, bars, restaurants, a cinema appeared. All the buildings on the island are interconnected by a system of underground tunnels, through which people went to cafes, to work, to the cinema. On the roofs of the houses, the inhabitants of Hasima arranged gardens and grew trees.

In 1959, the population density of this rock was the largest on Earth - 83,500 people per square kilometer. And in the residential area - 139100.

In 1974, coal ceased to be an important fuel resource in Japan and Mitsubishi closed the coal mine. Along with the coal mine, the island also perished.

For 35 years, the ghost island was in complete desolation, the houses were slowly destroyed, and nature was slowly taking positions away from civilization. In 2009, there was an opportunity to visit Hasima with a guided tour. A plan is being developed to turn the island into a coal mining museum. But while Hasima is visible on the horizon, like a lonely ghost ship abandoned by everyone. It is called in Nagasaki - Gunkanjima - island-ship.

http://tavi.ws/?p=6604

photo http://gakuranman.com/the-heavens-open-on-hashima/

There are few places on the planet that are as gloomy and striking with hopelessness as Hashima Island. Clear evidence of how quickly and inexorably nature erases all traces of human presence on Earth. The achievements of our technological and highly developed civilization in a very short period of time from the point of view of history - about 40 years - turn into dust.

The Japanese government is trying not to focus on an abandoned island located in the East China Sea near the infamous port of Nagasaki. For a long time, the law was in force against the ban on visiting Hasima, a violation was punishable by 30 days in prison or immediate deportation from the country (for foreigners).

Now the rules have been relaxed, even a small route has been opened for tourists along the outskirts of the city-island. And since 2013, users Google Earth were able to take a virtual walk through the streets of the city of Hashima. Even panoramic viewing behind the laptop screen produces a depressing impression, one can only imagine what a heavy atmosphere really reigns there.

The history of the island - how it all began

Until the end of the 19th century, only fishermen were interested in an unremarkable rocky island. Unsuitable for life, it provided a good catch along its shores and protected during a storm.

Everything changed dramatically in the 1880s. Metallurgy developed rapidly in Nagasaki, and all of Japan experienced powerful industrialization. The empire needed coal more and more. In 1887, the first mine was founded on Hasima Island, and three years later, for 100,000 yen, the large industrial concern Mitsubishi bought it and the land itself. This is how active learning begins. natural resources and the first settlers appear.

Gradually, by 1905, a huge labyrinth of underground-underwater mines was formed around the island, some of them descended up to 600 m below sea level. The rocks extracted from the depths were sprinkled on the borders of the island, and soon its area grew to 6.3 hectares. To win back from Pacific Ocean the earth was not washed away by waves and typhoons, frequent in those places, did not destroy, Mitsubishi surround the island with a reinforced concrete wall.

At the same time, the idea of building the city of Hasima for mine workers and maintenance personnel was born, they had to be delivered daily by sea. Having acquired practically unlimited financial opportunities during the years of wars, the concern implemented its plan in record time. Already in 1916, more than 3,000 people permanently lived here.

The rapid development of the city

For 58 years of active coal mining and the rapid development of the island, 30 multi-storey residential buildings, 2 schools, a kindergarten, 2 swimming pools, a hospital, several temples, a cinema and a club have been built here. One can only imagine the density of development, if the city-island is about 480 m long and only 160 m wide. A real stone jungle. The buildings greatly changed the silhouette of Hashima Island itself, now it began to resemble a battleship and got its nickname Gunkanjima.

By the way, it was here that they began to use reinforced concrete slabs for the construction of high-rise buildings. The seven-story "Glover House", named after the design engineer, was the first to use a building material new to Japan.

Tiny apartments of 10 square meters with a kitchen and a toilet on the floor were, in fact, the prototype of a modern hostel. Any free space was used properly, even small squares were planted on the roofs of houses for recreation. Construction was carried out here even in the Second world war, coal mining increased dramatically and required more working hands.

During the terrible time of the war, captives and guest workers from China and Korea worked in the mines. Thousands of them died, unable to withstand the harsh working conditions and half-starved existence.

Golden age of the island

The 1950s are called the "Golden Decade" in the history of the city of Hasima. Mitsubishi began to conduct business in a more civilized manner, improved the working conditions of miners, built a hospital and a huge school in the city. There were more than 25 shops, a club, a cinema and a cafe. Everything was imported from the mainland, but the proximity of Nagasaki made these supplies uninterrupted.

The population has also reached its peak. In 1959, 5267 people lived here, and it was the most densely populated place on earth. The residential quarters were simply crammed with people, and the intricate labyrinths of galleries connected the buildings and made it possible to hardly go out into the air. The corporation strictly ruled over people, provided jobs, but strictly regulated the life of miners and their families.

The future promised stability and growth.

End of Hasima's industrial history and present day

Early 1960s Japanese economy is reoriented to oil consumption, coal ceases to be the main fuel resource. The mines are becoming unprofitable, and they are being shut down en masse across the country. At the beginning of 1974, Mitsubishi Corporation announced the cessation of coal mining, and on April 20, the last residents left Hasima, leaving most of their belongings due to the high cost of transportation. So it turned into an abandoned city.

In an effort to protect empty houses from marauders, the government banned entry to the island. But the city was inexorably crumbling from time to time, and soon there was nothing to protect there, and the buildings became dangerous for people because of dilapidation.

Many people were interested in the exotics of the abandoned island, and local fishermen from Nagasaki agreed to take the curious for a fee. The world saw amazing in its realism photographs of decline and devastation. Skeletons of multi-storey buildings, collapsed floor slabs, rusty metal frames and half-rotten wood. Personal belongings, school supplies and books abandoned by the owners almost 40 years ago add poignancy to this picture.

The story that caused the city of Hashima to become uninhabited is not fraught with tragic events or secrets. He became no longer needed by his owners and inhabitants due to the rapid development technical progress Japan. The industrial leap left thousands of miners without work, and the city without inhabitants. Now nature on the island is slowly destroying everything that man managed to create.

The gloomy post-apocalyptic landscapes of the island attract filmmakers. Recreated in studio pavilions, Hashima's buildings can be seen in the latest James Bond film.

Now, twice a day - at 9.00 and 14.00 - a small excursion boat sails from the Nagasaki pier. Depending on the weather and the height of the waves, the captain decides whether to moor on an abandoned island or swim close. But even from the sea, Khashima, reminiscent of the outlines of a warship, amazes with its gray concrete bulk.

The Japanese island of Hashima until 1810 was a piece of rock measuring 0.063 km². When near rocky terrain East China Sea coal deposits were found, the Japanese authorities began to artificially expand the territory of the island with the help of waste rock that was extracted from the mines. In 1890, the island was bought by the Japanese industrial conglomerate Mitsubishi for 100,000 yen. The company's management developed a plan for the construction of a whole city on Hasim for miners and their staff. This was required by the growing scale of coal mining and economic considerations, because in this case it was possible to refuse the daily delivery of new work shifts by sea. At its peak, Hasima was considered one of the most densely populated places on Earth, with 139,100 people per square meter in the residential area. km (more than 5,000 people lived here). But already in the early 1960s, coal ceased to be the main fuel resource. The Japanese economy is reoriented to oil consumption, and coal mines become unprofitable. Mitsubishi Corporation announces in 1974 the end of coal mining at Hasima. Already on April 20, the last residents left the city, leaving almost all their belongings behind.

The width of the island is less than 200 meters, the length is about 500 meters, total area hardly exceeds 6 hectares. In 1907, the island was surrounded by a reinforced concrete wall, which prevented the erosion of its territory by the sea and frequent typhoons.

By official version such a sudden flight on the "lung" was caused by the high cost of transportation. Most of the inhabitants of the city-island were representatives of the lower property class, so they simply did not have the means to transport their belongings to the mainland. The stores have leftover manufactured goods, for example, one of them has dozens of TV sets from the 1970s.

The Japanese government is trying not to focus on the abandoned island. For 35 years, there was a law prohibiting visits to Hasima. Allegedly, the Japanese government was trying to protect the city from "black diggers". Violation was punishable by 30 days in prison or immediate deportation from the country (for foreigners).

Now the rules have been relaxed, even a small route has been opened for tourists along the outskirts of the city-island. And since 2013, Google Earth users have been able to virtual walks along the streets of the city of Khashima.

In the city, because of the small residential area, tiny apartments of 10 sq.m. were built. with a kitchen and a toilet on the floor, in fact, a hostel.

Even the territory of the roofs was used, where small squares were planted for recreation.

Now nature on the island is slowly destroying everything that man managed to create.

A little more interesting about Hasima:

The authors of the film about James Bond, inspired by the ghost town, copied the lair of the main villain - Raul Silva from the epic "007. Coordinates: “Skyfall”, exactly from Hasima. But the picture itself was shot in the pavilions of the Pinewood studio.

Frames from the film: "Coordinates" Skyfall ".

About the island

The last local resident of Hasima stepped on the deck of the ship leaving for Nagasaki on April 20, 1974. Since then, in high-rise buildings built at the dawn of the twentieth century, only rare gulls live ...

Hashima Island, legends about which today go around the world, is located in the south of Japan, in the East China Sea, fifteen kilometers from Nagasaki. Its name is translated from Japanese as " border island”, Hashima is also called Gunkanjima - “battleship island”. The fact is that back in the 1920s, journalists from a local newspaper noticed that Hasim's silhouette resembles a linear huge ship"Tosa", which at that time was being built by Mitsubishi Corporation at the shipyard in Nagasaki. And although the plans to make the battleship the flagship were not lucky enough to come true, the "ship" nickname was firmly attached to the island.

However, Hasima did not always look so impressive. Until the end of the nineteenth century, it was one of the many rocky islands in the vicinity of Nagasaki, hardly suitable for normal life and occasionally visited only by local birds and fishermen.

change

Everything changed during the 1880s. Japan then experienced industrialization, in which coal became the most valuable resource. On the neighboring island of Takashima, Hashima, alternative sources of raw materials were developed that could support the rapidly developing metallurgical industry of Nagasaki. The success of the Takashima mines contributed to the fact that the first mine was founded on Hashim soon, in 1887, by the Fukahori family clan. In 1890, the Mitsubishi concern bought the island, and the rapid development of its natural resources began.

As time went on, the country needed more and more coal ... The Mitsubishi company, which has almost unlimited financial resources, developed a project for underwater fossil fuel mining at Hasima. In 1895, a new mine was opened here, with a depth of 199 meters, and in 1898, another one. Ultimately, under the island and the sea surrounding it, a real labyrinth of underwater underground workings was formed up to six hundred meters below sea level.

Construction

Extracted from the mines, the Mitsubishi concern used to increase the territory of Hasima. A plan was developed to build an entire city on the island to house the miners and staff. This was due to the desire to reduce costs, because it was necessary to deliver shifts here by sea daily from Nagasaki.

So, as a result of the “recapture” of the area from the Pacific Ocean, Khashima Island increased to 6.3 hectares. The length from west to east was 160 meters, and from north to south - 480 meters. The Mitsubishi company in 1907 surrounded the territory with a reinforced concrete wall, which served as an obstacle to the erosion of the land by frequent typhoons and the sea.

Large-scale development of Khashima began in 1916, when 150 thousand tons of coal were mined here a year, and the population was 3 thousand people. For 58 years, the concern has built here 30 multi-storey buildings, schools, temples, kindergarten, hospital, miners' club, swimming pools, cinema and other facilities. There were about 25 stores alone. Finally, the silhouette of the island began to resemble the battleship Tosa, and Hasima got her nickname.

residential buildings

The first major building on Hasim was the so-called Glover House, allegedly designed by the Scottish engineer Thomas Glover. It was commissioned in 1916. The Miners' Residential Building was a seven-story building with a store on the ground floor and was Japan's first reinforced concrete facility of this size. Two years later, an even larger Nikkyu residential complex was built in the center of the island. In fact, Hasima Island (photos of houses can be seen in the article) has become a testing ground for new building material, which made it possible to build objects of previously unimaginable scale.

In a very limited area, people tried to use any free space wisely. Between the buildings in narrow courtyards, small squares were organized for residents to relax. This is Hasima now - an island-sign on which no one lives, and at that time it was densely populated. The construction of residential buildings did not stop even during the Second World War, although it was frozen in other parts of the country. And there was an explanation for this: the warring empire needed fuel.

War time

One of places of worship on the island is the "Stairway to Hell" - a seemingly endless climb leading to Senpukuji Temple. It is not known what still seemed to the inhabitants of Khashima more "hellish" - overcoming hundreds of steep steps or the subsequent descent into the labyrinths of narrow city streets, often devoid of sunlight. By the way, the people who settled the island of Hashima (Japan) took the temples seriously, because mining is a very dangerous occupation. During the war, many miners were drafted into the army, the Mitsubishi concern made up for the lack of labor force with Korean and Chinese guest workers. Thousands of people became victims of a half-starved existence and merciless exploitation in the mines: some died of disease and exhaustion, others died in the face. Sometimes people even threw themselves in despair from the island wall in a vain attempt to swim to " mainland».

Recovery

After the end of the war, the Japanese economy began a rapid recovery. The 1950s became "golden" for Hasima: the Mitsubishi company began to conduct business in a more civilized manner, a school and a hospital were opened in the mining town. In 1959, the population reached its peak. On 6.3 hectares of land, of which only 60 percent were suitable for life, 5259 people huddled. Hashima Island at that time had no competitor in the world in terms of such an indicator as "population density": there were 1,391 people per hectare. Tourists who today arrive on an excursion to the abandoned island of Hashima find it hard to believe that some 55 years ago, residential areas were literally packed with people.

Navigating the "battleship"

Of course, there were no cars on the island. And why should they, if, as they say locals, to get from one end of Hashima to the other could be faster than smoking a cigarette? IN rainy weather here even umbrellas were not required: intricate labyrinths of covered galleries, corridors and stairs connected almost all the buildings, so, by and large, people did not need to go out into the open air at all.

Hierarchy

Hashima Island was a place where a strict social hierarchy reigned. As well as possible, this was reflected in the distribution of housing. So, the manager of the Mitsubishi mine occupied the only one-story mansion on the island, built on top of a cliff. Doctors, managers, teachers lived in separate houses in two-room, rather spacious apartments with a private kitchen and a bathroom. Miners' families were allocated two-room apartments with an area of 20 square meters, but without their own kitchen, shower and toilet - these objects were common "on the floor". Lone miners, as well as seasonal workers, lived in 10-square-meter rooms in houses built here at the beginning of the 20th century.

The Mitsubishi concern established a so-called private property dictatorship on Hasima. The company, on the one hand, gave the miners jobs, provided wages, housing, and on the other, forcibly attracted people to public works: cleaning the territory and premises in buildings.

Dependence on the "mainland"

The miners gave Japan the coal it needed, while their existence depended entirely on the supply of clothes, food, and even water from the "mainland". Here, until the 1960s, there were not even plants, until in 1963 soil was brought to Khashima, which made it possible to set up gardens on the roofs of buildings and organize small vegetable gardens and public gardens on the few free sites. Only then the inhabitants of the "battleship" were able to start growing at least some vegetables.

Hashima - ghost island

Back in the early 1960s. it seemed that the island was waiting for a cloudless future. But as a result of cheaper oil at the end of the decade, coal production became increasingly unprofitable. Mines were closed all over the country, and a small island in the East China Sea eventually became a victim of the Japanese reorientation towards the use of "black gold". At the beginning of 1974, the Mitsubishi concern announced the liquidation of the mines at Hasima, and the school was closed in March. The last resident left the "battleship" on April 20. Since then, the abandoned island city of Khashima, which has been rebuilt with such labor for 87 years, has been irreversibly destroyed. Today it serves as a kind of historical monument of Japanese society.

Tourist object

For a long time, Khashima was closed to tourists, since the buildings erected in the first half of the 20th century were very actively degraded. But since 2009, the country's authorities began to allow everyone to the island. A special walking route was organized for visitors in the safe part of the "battleship".

And not so long ago, Hashima Island attracted even more attention. A wave of interest rose after the release of the last part of the epic about the adventures of James Bond, the British agent 007. Pinewood studio pavilions.

virtual walk

Today, individual enthusiasts are making proposals for the reconstruction of the entire island, because its tourism potential is truly enormous. They want to organize a museum here under open sky and include Hasima on the UNESCO list. However, to restore dozens of dilapidated buildings, large financial costs are required, and the budget for this purpose is even difficult to predict.

However, now anyone can wander through the labyrinths of the "battleship" without leaving home. Google Street View in July 2013 took a picture of the island, and now the inhabitants of the Earth can see not only the quarters of Hasima, which are currently inaccessible to tourists, but also visit the apartments of miners, abandoned buildings, view household items and things left by them upon departure.

Hasima Island is a harsh symbol of the birth of a big one, which at the same time clearly demonstrates that even under rising sun nothing is eternal.