Hashima Island (端島; "Border Island"), commonly called Gunkanjima (軍艦島; "Battleship Island") is one among 505 uninhabited islands in the Nagasaki Prefecture about 15 kilometers from Nagasaki itself. The island was populated from 1887 to 1974 as a coal mining facility.
In 1959, its population density was 835 people per hectare (83,500 people/km2) for the whole island, or 1,391 per hectare (139,100 people/km2) for the residential district, the highest population density ever recorded worldwide.
It may not have been the most pleasant place to live due to its cramped nature and relative isolation, but it had all the conveniences of any other town (with perhaps the exception of a large park): a cinema, swimming pool, shops, a shrine, so forth. There also existed a school for the children living on the island. Unfortunately it also had a darker element to its existence, as the population also included forced labourers from Korea and China during World War Two.
Since 1974 it has remained abandoned apart from a number of daring urban explorers (of whom I am admittedly quite envious) until recently, when a Nagasaki ferry company began landing tours of the island. Here are a couple of my photos from the trip, click for an enlargement:
Unfortunately, being herded around with a large group of other tourists somewhat ruins the purpose of visiting an abandoned site, but it's currently the only legal option for visiting. It was also extremely hot that day, especially standing on concrete, and the sea walls were sufficiently high enough to stop any sea breeze. But otherwise it was an unusual and interesting experience, and to me it's one of the more fascinating places in Japan of which little is known to most locals.
Anyway, having said all that, I'd certainly be keen to visit Nagasaki again so I can take the time to do some sightseeing around the city itself, something I actually didn't do!
Thanks! I've never been there, though I have seen reports about in on TV.
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