Hashima — known as Gunkanjima or 'Battleship Island' for its silhouette — is a concrete husk in the open sea about an hour by boat from Nagasaki. The abandoned coal mining city is the most evocative ruin in Japan: tower blocks crumbling into the ocean, stairways disappearing into sky. A UNESCO World Heritage site since 2015. Tours run from Nagasaki Port; landing requires calm seas and a small fee, and visitors are restricted to a fixed walkway. Several operators offer the trip — book at least a day in advance, more in summer. Even a cruise that only circles the island is striking.
Hashima Island (Gunkanjima)
A story
At its peak in 1959, Hashima — only 480 metres long — held 5,259 people, the most densely populated patch of ground on earth. The mine produced coal for Mitsubishi until 1974, when oil pricing made it uneconomic. The entire population left within three months, leaving fully furnished apartments to rot in the sea spray. The island appeared as the villain's lair in the 2012 James Bond film Skyfall.