Hashima was abandoned in 1974 and left to the elements. Storms, time, and decay have resulted in collapsed buildings that feel inhabited by the ghosts of the miners who used to live there. Here's a ...

Atlas Obscura on Slate is a new travel blog. Like us on Facebook, Tumblr, or follow us on Twitter @atlasobscura Advertisement Hashima Island, 11 miles off the coast of Nagasaki, is known by two ...

There’s a reason Gunkanjima is nicknamed Battleship Island. As you approach by tour boat, as we did a few weeks ago, the mysterious place, about nine miles off the coast of Nagasaki, Japan, resembles ...

In recent years, Nagasaki Prefecture’s Hashima Island, better known as Gunkanjima, or “Battleship Island,” has become one of the most internationally famous sites in Japan. A coal mining center for ...

Japan’s Hashima Island is better known as Gunkanjima, or “Battleship Island,” and it’s easy to see why. But this decaying city wasn’t destroyed in a battle; it’s an abandoned mining town that has been ...

Originally, Hashima was a reef, with no vegetation. In 1890, it was developed into an artificial island to mine undersea coalfields by the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, founded by Iwasaki Yatarō. It supplied ...

Japan seeks Unesco recognition for Hashima island, known as Battleship island, but the bid makes no mention of its history as a site of slave labour The hardship is still etched on Tomoji Kobata’s ...

Hashima Island—nicknamed Gunkanjima or Battleship Island—was once a bustling coal mining hub before being abandoned to the sea. Today, it’s a UNESCO World Heritage site that can only be visited on ...