Hashima (Gunkanjima)
Hashima is an island about 17.5 kilometers (10.9 miles) away from the southwest coast of Nagasaki. Because of its battleship shape, it is also called Gunkanjima, literally Battleship Island. A great amount of modern apartments and living facilities were built on the island to serve over 5,000 miners and their families. However, it was deserted in 1974 since Japan’s main energy supply converted from coal to petroleum and became a ghost island.
Decline of Gunkanjima:
In 1810, a coal mine was found on the island by accident. Then it was bought by Mitsubish, a Japanese company, to exploit coal in 1890. The exploitation persisted for about a century. At the peak of its coal exploitation, the density of population in Hashima equaled to 9 times of population density of Tokyo back then. To accommodate these miners, a hospital, two schools, a lot of groceries, modern apartments, recreational facilities like cinemas and arcades, and a temple were built.Due to the transition in energy structure of Japan from coal to petroleum, coal mines on Hashima were completely closed in 1975. Hashima has become a deserted place from then on. After several decades, it was reopened by the government in 2009 as a tourist spot, attracting large numbers of people to visit. Battleship Island was added to UNESCO World Heritage list in 2015.
To See Hashima from A Distance
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What You Will See on Hashima:
Modern Apartments:
There was a large complex of modern buildings on the island. In the complex, Apartment 30 is the most impressive one, as the first concrete building in Japan. There used to live hundreds of officers, miners and their families.
A Boat on the Waters Around Hashima
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Comprehensive Office Building:
Grey concrete on the building wall has already peeled off and uncovered the red bricks underneath. The comprehensive office building was built to operate and manage the coal industry efficiently. Senior officers and skilled workers used to work here.Shafts for Coal Mining:
The No.2 Shaft is the heart of Battleship Island’s coal industry, which has 400 meters (1,310 feet) in depth. Finished in 1916, the environment under the shaft is quite hot and humid. With the temperature being 30°C (86°F) and humidity being 95%, the environment with no doubt brought lots of difficulties to miners. They stuck to working every day for their families’ better life with great perseverance. But in the course of developing Hashima, Japan resorted to draft and took numbers of foreign workers during WWⅡ against their will to the island, who ended up dead from exhausting work.Gunkajima Digital Museum:
On the coast of Nagasaki, Gunkajima Digital Museum provides visitors with its vivid VR recreation of Hashima’s past views and abundant videos and pictures about past Hashima and people there.Prior Booking Is Important!
It’s a must to join a tourist group to go to Hashima. To have a better experience, booking tickets three days ahead is recommended. You will get:
A Round-trip cruise ticket
A Tour on Hashima
Guide’s explanation along the whole journeyMainly four agencies operate tours to Hashiman, departing from Nagasaki:
Yamasa Shipping
Gunkanjima Landing Cruise
Seaman's Club
Gunkanjima Concierge
Schedule and Travel Fee:
9:00 - 11:30
13:00 - 15:30
9:10 - 12:10
14:00 - 17:20
10:30 - 13:00
13:40 - 16:10
10:30 - 13:15
13:40 - 16:20
Travel Agency
Time
Departure Port
Ticket Fare
Yamasa Shipping
Nagasaki Port Terminal
4,350 yen
Gunkanjima Landing
3,910 yen
Seaman's Club
Tokiwamachi Terminal
4,210 yen
Gunkanjima Concierge
5,310 yen
To land on Hashima, specific weather conditions and sea states are required. It is possible that the trip will be cancelled because of bad weather.
Best Time to Visit Hashima: April to October
It’s highly recommended that you go there asap for a better visit since some buildings on the island have already weathered and it’s possible that they will fall down in a few years.
Tips:
1. Belongings: There is no rubbish bins or toilets on the island, and umbrellas and hats are not allowed here. Therefore, it’s recommended that visitors bring garbage bags and raincoats with them.2. Clothes: Because of the strong wind and rough ground on the island, it’s better to wear a windproof coat and sneakers.