Hashima

Hashima (Gunkanjima) - darkometer rating : 8 - A small island in the sea south of Nagasaki , Japan , which is the location of one of the most spectacular ghost towns on Earth! This had originally been built to house miners and their families – since below Hashima undersea coal seams were exploited until 1974. Since then, the place has been abandoned. So what once used to be the most densely populated spot on Earth is now empty and crumbling. Except that since 2009 tourist boat excursions have been running, which were given a boost when in 2015 Hashima was declared a World Heritage Site. However, these tours only go to three viewpoints a safe distance from the buildings, which remain off limits to ordinary tourists. What is also – controversially! – missing on these tours is any acknowledgement of the really dark parts of Hashima's history, namely Japan's use of Korean and Chinese forced labourers in the coal mines during WWII (see below). Note that within Japan, Hashima is better known under the nickname “ Gunkanjima ”, which means 'battleship island'. That's because the silhouette of the island, from some angles, is said to resemble that of such a warship. > More background info > What there is to see > Location > Access and costs > Time required > Combinations with other dark destinations > Combinations with non-dark destinations > Photos More background info: Until 1810, Hashima was just an uninhabited barren rock in the sea, but then coal was discovered on the island. Mining of this coal soon began, but only on a small scale and without digging especially deep. That changed when in 1890 the Mitsubishi company bought the island and started full-scale mining operations.