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The Yomiuri Shimbun A high sea wall runs around the perimeter of Hashima Island.
By Kohei Choji, Koichi Nagano and Tetsu Joko / Yomiuri Shimbun Photographers
19:24 JST, February 16, 2025
On an island off the coast of Nagasaki, ruins that seem on the verge of collapse stand clustered behind a high seawall. Though officially known as Hashima, the island is sometimes called Gunkanjima, or “Battleship Island,” because of its resemblance to the warship Tosa. Last year marked the 50th anniversary of the closing of the island’s coal mine, which once made the spot prosperous.
The Yomiuri Shimbun The building for Hashima’s elementary and junior high school, constructed in 1958, lies on the northern part of the island. The top seven floors of the building have collapsed due to old age. At its peak, more than 700 children attended the school.
High-quality coal was discovered on Hashima around 1810. In the island’s heyday, about 5,300 people lived there, making it the most densely populated island in Japan. Within the 1.2-kilometer-long perimeter were most of the things one would need for daily life, including an elementary and junior high school, a hospital, a post office and a nursery school.
The island was closed in 1974 and fell into disrepair, but since the 2000s, it has been reborn as a tourist destination. In 2015, the Hashima Coal Mine was added to the World Cultural Heritage list as one of the “Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution.” Preservation work is also underway.
The Yomiuri Shimbun Hashima Island is backlit as the sun sets in the sky. The island’s silhouette resembles a warship.
Strolling around the island, visitors can tell just how many years have passed by the overgrowth of trees. It is difficult to imagine the hustle and bustle that once existed here, with only the lonely sound of waves now echoing off the island. In the spring of years past, the annual Hashima Shrine festival would be held, and in the summer, there were fireworks displays and Bon Odori dancing.
From above, you can see the collapsed shrine hall, with only the miniature hokora shrine left intact. There is also a slide on the roof of the No. 65 Apartment Building, which was company housing for the miners, but the walls and pillars around the slide are heavily cracked. In a room in another building, there is an abandoned cathode-ray tube television, along with some shelves. Plants that formerly were found only in the rooftop vegetable garden now bloom brightly among the rubble.
The Yomiuri Shimbun Minoru Kinoshita, who was born and raised on Hashima, now works as a guide, informing visitors of the island’s history.
“I have good memories of playing quietly, caring for the miners who were tired from their night shifts and sleeping during the day,” said Minoru Kinoshita, 71, who lived on the island for 12 years. “When I go to the island, there are so many nostalgic memories that I feel like I’m the age I was back then.” No matter how desolate the island may be, his feelings for his hometown remain warm.
The Yomiuri Shimbun An abandoned slide sits atop the roof of the 10-story No. 65 Apartment Building.
Although most of the island is off-limits to visitors, it has been in the spotlight in recent years, serving as the setting for movies and TV dramas and attracting tourists from all over the world.
“I’m happy the island will be remembered by so many people. It seems to be a little livelier than it used to be,” said a smiling Kinoshita.
This year marks 10 years since the isle was added to the World Cultural Heritage list. This small hump of land, which once supported Japan’s economic growth, seems to have found a new place for itself in the world.
