These days the only things that land on Hashima Island are the shits of passing seagulls. An hour or so’s sail from the port of Nagasaki, the abandoned island silently crumbles. A former coal mining facility owned by Mitsubishi Motors, it was once the most densely populated place on earth, packing over 13,000 people into each square kilometre of its residential high-risers. It operated from 1887 until 1974, after which the coal industry fell into decline and the mines were shut for good. With their jobs gone and no other reason to stay in this mini urban nightmare, almost overnight the entire population fled back to the mainland, leaving most of their stuff behind to rot.
Today it is illegal to go anywhere near the place as it’s beyond restoration and totally unsafe. The Japanese Government aren’t keen to draw unwanted attention to this testament to the hardship of the country’s post-war industrial revolution either.
The punishment for being caught visiting Hashima Island is 30 days in prison followed by immediate deportation. But the other week, after getting up before sunrise and cutting a secret deal with a local fisherman, some friends and I landed on Hashima Island.
The port of Nagasaki is an international fare where you’re more likely to find granny-laden cruise ships and large oil tankers filling the docks than buck-toothed fisherman willing to break the law for a few extra bob, so we took the early morning ferry to the still-inhabited Takashima, the closest island to Hashima. After asking around – and being politely turned away by every Japanese we mentioned it to – finally we found our man. The rules of Japanese politeness dictate you never say what you want directly, so even once we were aboard the boat we weren’t sure we were actually going to set foot on Hashima – we’d only agreed for our fisherman to take us close enough to see it.
Bobbing into view, the grey seawall’s artificial angling of the island gives it the shape of a battleship – hence its Japanese name in popular mythology, “Gunkanjima” - Battleship Island.
Getting closer, talks with the fisherman continued slowly – it was only as we were actually setting foot on the landing jetty that he finally agreed to give us a couple of hours to explore before returning to pick us up.
In some areas the entire façades of buildings had fallen to the ground, revealing grids of homes, each exposed with their 70s television sets smashed after the TV stands had eroded away. It was difficult to gauge exactly what it might have been like to live here, although with the complete lack of outdoors space and the prison-like seawall keeping you in, I can’t imagine it to have been anything other than claustrophobic, uncomfortable, and a bit like living in an ant farm.
Personal artefacts lay littered everywhere – old shoes, bottles of shampoo, newspapers and even posters left on teenagers’ walls – these were the most vivid clues that people had once been here.
We explored the empty classrooms of the island’s huge school. The rusted carcasses of desks and chairs lay in front of blackboards displaying the withered dusty marks of the last class to have taken place there 30 years before.
From the top floor gymnasium we looked down into the main auditorium, whose roof had caved in long before. It was clearly structurally unsafe, we were walking over large slabs which had fallen previously from the ceilings above us.
On roughly the ninth floor of an apartment block, I stepped into one of the rooms to admire the sea view from the window. The traditional woven tatami floor beneath my feet, unused to human contact, gave way, sending a tremendous ripping sound through the building’s shell. I fell…
…about one meter, but it was enough to freak us out and from here on we took more care where we trod.
At only 1.2km squared, the island is tiny, but you never can quite grasp this when you’re winding through its perspective warping high-risers. To get a better overall look we scaled the central watchtower - precarious as its old access paths was now overgrown beyond usability.
It never crossed our minds that the fisherman wouldn’t come back. We were more worried that we only had those two hours on the island, an arbitrary frame of time my friend picked in the moment of excitement when we got the green light for transport. There was enough stuff there to keep us busy there for an entire day.
And then, two days after this was written, the government re-opened it.
ALEX HOBAN
April 23rd, 2009 @ 11:15
Reader Comments
April 23rd, 2009
11:31 am
No need for last paragraph but best piece of journalism Vice has done in ages.
April 23rd, 2009
11:46 am
Fantastic piece, one of the most interesting things I’ve ever seen from Vice
April 23rd, 2009
11:50 am
Totally agree, amazing.
April 23rd, 2009
12:11 pm
Well done man, a great article on a curious piece of history
April 23rd, 2009
12:32 pm
Err. You might want to edit your 2nd and 3rd paragraphs, dude.
As of yesterday, Hashima was re-opened to the public:
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/national/news/20090421p2a00m0na011000c.html
It’s now totally legal for any old Yuki and Takahiro to visit the island. (And actually, the island was never completely off-limits before, the nagasaki government allowed the press to visit as long as you arranged it with them beforehand)
Also it’s simply not true that “The Japanese Government aren’t keen to draw unwanted attention” to the island. They’ve been working hard to turn it into a UNESCO world heritage sight for some time. I think they’ve nearly achieved the status…
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20090217f1.html
Some cool descriptions in your article, though.
April 23rd, 2009
12:56 pm
Great work, cool story
April 23rd, 2009
1:06 pm
Yo, this is one rocking piece of work. That place is serious Wasteland. Turns out April really is the cruelest month. Derrida would poo his frilly knickers over this.
April 23rd, 2009
1:28 pm
Can you get that published in a newspaper magazine? I’d never even heard of this before. I’d be interested to hear more about the history.
April 23rd, 2009
2:00 pm
That was great. Fucking props.
April 23rd, 2009
2:32 pm
Wombed in sin darkness I was too, made not begotten. By them, the man
with my voice and my eyes and a ghostwoman with ashes on her breath.
They clasped and sundered, did the coupler’s will. From before the ages
He willed me and now may not will me away or ever.
April 23rd, 2009
2:40 pm
It’s open to the public now BTW. You can read about it here… http://tinyurl.com/df77l4
April 23rd, 2009
3:09 pm
[...] Battleship Island - Japan’s rotting metropolis [...]
April 23rd, 2009
3:15 pm
This place looks awesome
April 23rd, 2009
4:02 pm
STOP CASHING IN ON JG BALLARD’S DEATH
April 23rd, 2009
4:14 pm
I think I saw this place on Web Urbanist. It’s even better than Chernobyl I think since so few people have been there.
I wish more abandoned places were available to tour. I’m going on one of the Forgotten NYC tours soon.
April 23rd, 2009
4:14 pm
man that sucks! just when you guys thought you were being all incognito and mission impossible..
April 23rd, 2009
4:15 pm
regardless, this was a great blog post. it’s great to see stuff i never even knew existed!
April 23rd, 2009
4:15 pm
that place looks incredible. i bet there were some used up whores with loose vaginas in high demand on that island
April 23rd, 2009
4:15 pm
i bet the Japanese have secret mech warrior robot battles to the death on that island every Thursday night
April 23rd, 2009
7:46 pm
[...] photos, politics, social A kind of photo walk on one of Japan’s abandoned islands. Viceland explores the island. More photos. (via [...]
April 24th, 2009
2:45 pm
This is amazing, next time I’m in Japan I’m totally visiting!
April 24th, 2009
3:27 pm
Loved this, great article
April 24th, 2009
3:53 pm
This is the best thing I’ve read for ages, amazing photos too. I’ll be thinking about it for weeks. Thanks so much.
April 24th, 2009
3:54 pm
This is the best thing I’ve read for ages, amazing photos too. I’ll be thinking about it for weeks at least. Thanks.
April 24th, 2009
4:01 pm
Excellent subject and commentary you kept me fascinated.Ta
April 24th, 2009
4:32 pm
a decent piece of journalism from vice finally, amazing photos
April 24th, 2009
4:51 pm
Now this would be a great place to drop off those terrorists and make them clean it up. Yae Baby Yae!
April 24th, 2009
5:11 pm
wikipedia says that some of the island has been reopened to tourists but it would cost to much more to totaly restore it to full health and mae it safe, it doesnt sound like such a great adventure now.
April 24th, 2009
5:20 pm
What an amazingly creepy place. I love abandoned things. If I was there I’d pretend it was the end of the world and I was the only person left alive….you know….just for shits and giggles.
April 24th, 2009
5:34 pm
doesn’t Wikipedia say a SMALL bit of the island was opened… 2 days ago.
Maybe this piece was written more than 2 days ago..? Crazy thought, I know
Great piece, great pictures
April 24th, 2009
6:41 pm
Very intriguing but i think that some photo opps were passed by. The shots in the article were enough to bring out the interest in the place but overall disappointed in the shots. If there are more photos, post em! I really want to see this place!
April 24th, 2009
7:49 pm
I’ll probably never be able to get here, but this was fascinating. Thanks for documenting it so well!
April 24th, 2009
8:02 pm
I have never heard of such a place. Really fasinating.
April 24th, 2009
9:10 pm
Going to Japan this summer as well, fantastic article!
April 24th, 2009
9:28 pm
FIRST!
April 24th, 2009
10:02 pm
Dear Vice,
way to rip off ArtificialOwl.net on this article.
lazy journalism til you die.
April 24th, 2009
10:38 pm
shopped, this whole thing has been photo shopped, you can tell by the pixels
April 24th, 2009
11:20 pm
this is the coolest thing ever. its like abandonedbutnotforgotten.com to the extreme! very nice :)
April 24th, 2009
11:59 pm
Oh wow! This is really good! I like it alot! TWO THUMBS UP!!
April 25th, 2009
12:33 am
[...] Battleship Island - Japan
April 25th, 2009
2:00 am
You people are fucking idiots. Fuck you, fucking die.
April 25th, 2009
2:05 am
To the dumbass that says those are photoshopped images, get the fuck out. This island was on the History Channel the other night in the show Life After People, dumbfuck.
April 25th, 2009
2:05 am
Very cool idea, but all those calling it even decent journalism must have fantastically low standards. It’s very poorly written.
April 25th, 2009
2:51 am
I like how vice doesn’t treat too controversially with this one, and kept to a more simpler article writing style. As apposed to its try-too-hard-to-sound-its style that it seems rather fond of.
April 25th, 2009
3:00 am
this is really neat……hehe thanks for this…..
April 25th, 2009
3:24 am
This island was also one of the locations for Battle Royale 2 (the ultra-violent Japanese cult classic.
April 25th, 2009
4:29 am
You call this work? A nice piece of history, I will give you that; but that silver spoon in yer arse hardly gives you the right to call this work.
April 25th, 2009
5:13 am
What I really want to know is, did you TAKE ANYTHING HOME? That poster would be hanging on my wall right now, if I went.
April 25th, 2009
5:25 am
That place looks amazing and very interesting. Great photos!
April 25th, 2009
6:22 am
very nice, i found it very interesting.
April 25th, 2009
7:00 am
Great article. Are you sure those photos aren’t from south London though?
April 25th, 2009
7:54 am
I’ve seen these or similar pictures on a website several years ago. So it’s not as unique as some people think.
April 25th, 2009
8:17 am
Wow, great pics, fantastic opportunity for the people that went there. I could look at pics like this for days…..as to the haters, fuck you. If you don’t like things like this, just leave.
April 25th, 2009
8:25 am
Good article, but I’d have liked a few insights from former residents or council execs who have some control over it. Take us back in time a bit.
April 25th, 2009
9:18 am
This island is mine and I don’t want a bunch of you humans ruining it by trying to restore it and so stay the fuck off my island or I’ll zap the shit out of you, yo momma and yo poppa.
But I have to admit, (well I don’t HAVE to, but I will) the photos are pretty good.
April 25th, 2009
9:42 am
So, the Japs have been crowding people together for years.
They ought to cut their nuts off, and sew their pussy’s shut. Thats my advice.
April 25th, 2009
10:43 am
For background information, please check a link below.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hashima_Island
April 25th, 2009
11:02 am
Yea yea, cut their nuts off,sew their pussys shut,well not all their pussys,just some of them a little, and leave the rest alone.
April 25th, 2009
11:31 am
I want to go to this island someday and compare with side effect Yogyakarta earthquake 2006.
April 25th, 2009
11:53 am
this would be a great place to send the zionists nobody would bother them there and more importantly they wouldn’t bother anyone
April 25th, 2009
12:03 pm
I’ve never understood why places like this aren’t utilised by the military for target practice. Free demolition service from the Navy or Airforce after being used for urban assault practice by the Army.
Surely a country such as Japan can use all the real estate they can get. Send a concrete recycling plant and a few large excavators out there, use the reclaimed concrete to either raise the ground level or enlarge the island and find another purpose for it, even if that purpose is storing waste.
April 25th, 2009
12:05 pm
In 1996 I saw this place whilst on holidays and I have always wondered what it would be like to see on the inside of this Island of rock & concrete! Now I know thanks very much & a snoop job done well.
April 25th, 2009
1:25 pm
very interesting …
April 25th, 2009
1:43 pm
this place is damn freaky !!!
April 25th, 2009
1:46 pm
For those who find this interesting, too bad you weren’t in Hiroshima or Nagasaki when we dropped the bombs. You’d really have got a kick out of that.
As for the Japanese that were there, call it pay back for Nanking.
Avalon
April 25th, 2009
1:48 pm
Wow! I never knew that this place existed. Its perfect for Hollywood shooting.
April 25th, 2009
2:03 pm
[...] Battleship Island - Japan’s rotting metropolis | Viceland.com These days the only things that land on Hashima Island are the shits of passing seagulls. An hour or so’s sail from the port of Nagasaki, the abandoned island silently crumbles. A former coal mining facility owned by Mitsubishi Motors, it was once the most densely populated place on earth, packing over 13,000 people into each square kilometre of its residential high-risers. It operated from 1887 until 1974, after which the coal industry fell into decline and the mines were shut for good (tags: nature photo photography japan history) [...]
April 25th, 2009
2:42 pm
I’ve seen so many concepts of places like this in my huge collection of manga and anime films but I never drempt that they where anything more that figments of a wild imagination. Actually seeing real photo’s of the original is very very weird and quite amazing. Well done on not only being brave enougth to actually go there, but open enougth to write about it on the web.
April 25th, 2009
3:39 pm
Send Wall-E in to clean the place up.
April 25th, 2009
3:59 pm
[...] piece from Vice this. I’ve seen pictures of this Japanese urban nightmare before. Old coal colony off Nagasaki. If they’d been caught they would have done hard time. It just [...]
April 25th, 2009
5:09 pm
Actually, this aired on the History Channel’s new series “Life After People” last week, and they filmed that long ago. So Vice kinda stole their idea.
April 25th, 2009
5:10 pm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hashima_Island
Vice are liars!!
April 25th, 2009
5:14 pm
Interesting article, and an amazing island. Although I don’t blame people for being skeptical about how clandestine the visit actually was, after the kidofspeed chernobyl “secret” visit. Either way, that was interesting, and this is too.
April 25th, 2009
5:35 pm
what a great place to film a movie.
April 25th, 2009
5:46 pm
Great job of revealing a little history & pics of a taboo area not seen by human eyes for years ! Fuck the stupid shits that cut you down .They`re only jealous because they`ve done nothing with their miserable lives !
April 25th, 2009
5:47 pm
Most interesting thing ive read on the Vice website for a long time
April 25th, 2009
6:00 pm
Great article. Fantastic place to explore.
April 25th, 2009
6:01 pm
A film was made of this island by Carl M Von Hausswolff & Thomas Nordanstad. You can order it from sound 323:
http://sound323.com/pages/view.php?stockcode=ebr03
April 25th, 2009
6:21 pm
i saw this on the smithsonian hd channel the other day, it’s crazy some of the things they left behind.
April 25th, 2009
6:58 pm
WOW! that is one GREAT PIECE OF WORK!!!!!!!!!! congrats on doing it.
April 25th, 2009
7:13 pm
Its now (23-4-2009) free to travel to
April 25th, 2009
7:25 pm
amazing, my deepest dream is to see place like this, thanks for inspiration :)
April 25th, 2009
8:12 pm
Good story; only thing that would have made it more interesting if is the fishermen had not returned for a couple of days.
April 25th, 2009
8:33 pm
Amazing article! I never even knew that existed! Such a beautiful piece of history!
April 25th, 2009
8:47 pm
From wikipedia: …As of 22 April 2009, the island is open once again for public visits…
When did you go there?
April 25th, 2009
9:11 pm
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=4368126
April 25th, 2009
9:13 pm
Follow this link to an interesting video of a former inhabitant of the island and some photos of when it was populated - unfortunately black and white
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=4368126
April 25th, 2009
9:17 pm
This was really interesting and well written. I love learning about new places I have not yet heard of on our vast planet.
April 25th, 2009
9:35 pm
It’s been open to the public for ages
April 25th, 2009
10:22 pm
Freaky. I just saw this last night on “Life after People” and this was the first page to come up when I “stumbled.” This place is creepy and fascinating. Nice photos and story.
April 25th, 2009
10:32 pm
The fisherman risked his ass for you and you put a photo of his boat on the web. Smooth move, ex-lax.
April 25th, 2009
11:36 pm
Why did they leave so fast that they couldn’t take their belongings with them? Weird.
April 26th, 2009
12:37 am
Definitely an amazing work of journalism and photography. Would have loved to have been there!
April 26th, 2009
1:00 am
Great piece of journalism! A a monument to foolishness that serves to commemorate.
April 26th, 2009
1:01 am
Very interesting, but really - you’re putting that fisherman at risk by publishing a pic of his boat.
April 26th, 2009
1:21 am
I am reporting you to the Japanese officials. You should expect them to come knocking within a few days.
And please, do not cuss on your blog.
April 26th, 2009
1:52 am
Posers abound, as do nay-sayers and haters. I found this amazing, and I thank you for the trip. So many things the public has no concept (GI brat, and do I know about that subject being born in the 50’s) of some of the things man does. Keep up the good work. Ignore the haters and nay-sayers and prove your mettel more. Best. CB
April 26th, 2009
1:55 am
The photo of the boat isn’t revealing that much.
probably nothing to worry about.
I wish I had a day to explore this island!!
April 26th, 2009
2:46 am
[...] saw an article about a little island off the coast of Nagasaki (Fat man, not little boy) that was very attention [...]
April 26th, 2009
4:17 am
People what about ASBESTOS !!!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asbestos
Lots of construction work in those times have been done using ASBESTOS and i am pretty sure you guys know about it!!
Maybe thats why along other things they declared it unsafe !!!!
April 26th, 2009
5:22 am
Nice Pice Of Work……Gr8 Job done
April 26th, 2009
6:12 am
La Isla Hashima, la ciudad podrida de Japón [eng]…
Reportaje gráfico sobre unas instalaciones mineras abandonadas de Mitsubish Motors. En el pasado, este sitio llegó a ser el lugar con mayor densidad de población del mundo ( 13.000 hab/km2 ), pero ahora no es mas que una isla abandonada, llena de es…
April 26th, 2009
7:36 am
[...] Battleship island Hashima Island var engang et af jordens mest tætpakkede steder, med 13.000 mennesker per kvadratkilometer. Nu er den forladt og der er tilmed adgang forbudt. [...]
April 26th, 2009
1:41 pm
[...] few kids in Japan bribe local fishermen to take them out to the now abandoned Hashima Island off the coast of Nagasaki. Visitation is forbidden; perpetrators are faced with prison and [...]
April 26th, 2009
2:36 pm
Would love to be able to spend two weeks there just to make a record of what was was is and what will it become . . .would love to see a lot lot more photos
April 26th, 2009
4:24 pm
Nice collection of pictures and interesting story behind the island. However why bother with the bullshit premise that (i am paraphrasing the quotes as i can’t be bothered to scroll up) “we had to bribe some fishermen” and “ran the risk of 30 days in prison and deportation”. Its legal to go on that island now…some German film makers even made a film about it a while back. I realise this is Vice so bullshit waffle reigns supreme but still.. You don’t need to gloss it up - its a sweet abandoned island - thats cool enough as it is.
April 26th, 2009
5:32 pm
i am registered by u.n.h.c.r.in syria
i am somali african boy aged 28 years old.
registerd no..06-2511
nice to see you
jaw.
April 26th, 2009
5:47 pm
Fucking dope. Need more on this. It’s better than the Chernobyl stuff.
April 26th, 2009
8:58 pm
Infact it is more than beautifull and wonderfull, i love such areas and i will be there soon, Japanese government should make it as a tourist island, thanks alot for this good information about Hashima Island and piece of history. best regards.
April 26th, 2009
10:45 pm
This is so nice.Very good presentation.I think we share the same advocacy & thoughts.
April 27th, 2009
12:23 am
“Actually, this aired on the History Channel’s new series “Life After People” last week, and they filmed that long ago. So Vice kinda stole their idea.”
Right, they must have watched the premiere monday the 21st, immediately jumped on a plane to Japan, landed in time to get to the island and screw around on the 22nd, then made it back to the mainland in time to blog this the morning of the 23rd.
Either that or they somehow have secret access to the History Channel’s shooting schedule.
April 27th, 2009
1:56 am
gay japs they got nuked lol
April 27th, 2009
1:58 am
I wish to live there, we must create our own contry there. :P
April 27th, 2009
5:48 am
[...] obstante, un grupo de aguerridos guiris fueron allí mientras estaba prohibido, tras negociar con un pescador local para que les acercara a la isla y les dejara por allí un par [...]
April 27th, 2009
6:09 am
wasn’t this a sort of concentration camp for Korean slaves?
April 27th, 2009
6:16 am
this is horrible journalism “with their ‘jobs’ gone and no reason to stay”??? It totally ignores the fact that battle ship island was a forced labour camp. It’s like going to Auschwitz and then high-fiving each other because you thought it was a super sweet and rare experience.
April 27th, 2009
7:41 am
so it’s open again now hey? hmm. i gotta sort out getting down there, though it looks like they’re not letting many people on as much. to be honest i don’t think it’d be as fun to go there on a cruise as it would be to do what you did and smuggle yourself over
April 27th, 2009
9:18 am
Really interesting. Saw a pretty similar thing about Chernobyl:
http://www.grcade.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2217&st=0&sk=t&sd=a
April 27th, 2009
9:31 am
As an enthusiast of Urban Adventuring, this place looks awesome. If only the walls could talk. I can picture myself sitting in silence on some ruins and imagining the residents going about their routines. Excellent story.
April 27th, 2009
9:46 am
While walking or driving through city streets, I often wonder how long it would take for nature to retake its rights over humanity, should humans suddenly disappear. These pictures show that 30 years is not enough but that a good deal of the job is already under way by this time. Sweet to see how concrete dislocates by itself through lack of maintenance.
April 27th, 2009
1:04 pm
This is great. Shame the photos are poor. Just snaps really.
April 27th, 2009
1:38 pm
There is a reason that everyone got out of there in a hurry and left all their stuff. That is, those who escaped alive. You will find the answer at night.
Good things you guys were there in the daytime.
April 27th, 2009
2:11 pm
[...] Battleship Island - A former coal mining facilty owned Mitsubishi Motors that was at one time the most densely populated place on earth (13,000 people per square kilometer). Viceland, the web outlet of the Vice media conglomerate, takes us on a quick tour and offers up some really cool pictures of this “rotting metropolis.” For those of you that are into industrial lookin’ living spaces, check this out for sure. [...]
April 27th, 2009
6:23 pm
GODZILLA?????????
April 27th, 2009
9:03 pm
I am a liar and a thief. I have stolen thousands from my family. I love to steal, forge checks, embezzle. My husband is a thief too. We are quite a couple. But I’m divorcing him for being so fucking incompetent at the lying and stealing game.
April 28th, 2009
2:11 am
[...] Battleship Island Japan Tags: Battleship Island, Japan Categories: awesomeness Posted By: Dawn Masuoka Last Edit: 27 Apr 2009 @ 06 11 PM Email • Permalink Previous Responses to this post » (None) Post a Comment Click here to cancel reply. [...]
April 28th, 2009
5:06 am
Excellent story! And you chicks are cool :)
April 28th, 2009
5:58 am
I loved this article, absolutely fascinating, great pictures too.
April 28th, 2009
6:28 am
That must have been an incredible experience, i wonder if you were tempted to take some artifacts with you, i think that I would have taken that poster at least. I imagine that in the last years of humans, our homes might be a lot like that island, but it’s really the same shit as everywhere else. just surrounded by water and fish. why did they reopen it?
April 28th, 2009
7:00 am
I seems to be really very interesting place. I visit this place in my next travel trip. thanks for sharing this.
April 28th, 2009
7:05 am
very interesting, great story and photo’s, when I was overseas I did all sorts of things, but nothing as good as yours. Its obviously really unsafe so no wonder people were not allowed there.
April 28th, 2009
9:33 am
Great piece of writing, shame about the unnecessary S**t in the opening line. Although it did set the tone for the rest of the story.
Its amazing how quick humans can conquer something, build a mini civilization and then it returns to its original state in such a short time!
April 28th, 2009
12:02 pm
This is great, I wish I could have been there with you guys. Why don’t they build an island resort or something there? It could be great…
Thanks for the great post!
Gerrit
April 28th, 2009
12:52 pm
YOU ARE MADLY GENIOUS!!!
TNX FOR THE AMAZING REPORT!
April 28th, 2009
2:34 pm
Very interesting stuff.
April 28th, 2009
4:16 pm
WOW WHAT A FLASHBACK IN TIME…….THANKS FOR THE EXPERIENCE………
April 28th, 2009
5:11 pm
An absolutely amazing set for any post apocalypse movie that you’d care to make
April 28th, 2009
5:37 pm
What an amazing island! Antone who is interested in real c18th, C19th and C20th battleship islands should google “Northern Forts” and read about the Russian Navy fortress islands in the Gulf of Finland which guard St Petersberg. The website is a work of love by an amatuer architerctural historian which puts to shame many sites posted by professionals who work for national conservation archives. Advice on access to some of the fortress islands includes how to avoid police patrols and how to avoid death by drowning or exposure on a drifing iceflow as some of the “battleships” may be accessed across the frozen Gulf of Finland in winter - tho we read that spring is not advised!
April 28th, 2009
6:04 pm
Vice Sucks… This article Rocks
April 28th, 2009
9:44 pm
Fantastic article and photographs!!
April 28th, 2009
9:56 pm
aaahhhhh home!! I miss it.
April 28th, 2009
9:58 pm
On a serious note though. What they should have done was turn it into a tourist attraction before it started to fall apart
April 28th, 2009
10:43 pm
wow, those pictures are incredible.
April 29th, 2009
12:31 am
Very good piece Alex
April 29th, 2009
12:55 am
what do you mean the last paragraph was not needed. Shut the fuck up
April 29th, 2009
1:47 am
I am speechless. This is like landing on the moon or resurrecting Atlantis.
April 29th, 2009
1:49 am
Mmmm, article written poorly, photos not very good, but an interesting story. Would like to go there myself one day. :) Now, to find more info.
April 29th, 2009
4:59 am
Nicely done. Thanks for the tour.
April 29th, 2009
10:29 pm
Wow.. amazing photography opportunity. And nice journalism, I’d never heard of this place until now, but I can see why you took the risk to explore it.
Thanks
April 30th, 2009
4:23 am
[...] some great photographs from Vice (25 total) see here and [...]
April 30th, 2009
5:27 am
Forgot to mention that this was a coal mining comunity that Japan abandoned after they decided that oil was easer to burn. Also the U.S. torpedoed the island twice during WW II thinking it was a battleship. I would like to see photos of the coal mine.
April 30th, 2009
5:30 am
Its real name is Hashama Island.
April 30th, 2009
7:48 am
dis iz fukin nice
April 30th, 2009
12:46 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?hl=de&v=fp97FUlSdqI&gl=DE
April 30th, 2009
1:55 pm
NICE ARTICLE
April 30th, 2009
6:14 pm
a bleak look into the past
May 1st, 2009
2:41 am
This was enjoyable to read and see the pics……..so dense and populated its hard to imagine people living there in such cramped fittings
Interesting enough and creepy at the same time kinda make ya think that there’s probably a million places around the world like that, left for years to rot and decay with untold thousands of interesting stories to tell and secrets to share….fascinating stuff for sure.
May 1st, 2009
9:35 am
Amazing article, def bring more of this to the table, Vice.
May 1st, 2009
9:50 am
If you enjoyed reading this, you have to read Koji Suzuki’s ‘Solitary Isle’ in his book of short stories that includes Ring and Dark Water…
May 1st, 2009
10:51 am
[...] Battleship Island. [...]
May 1st, 2009
1:11 pm
The place is awesome, the writer is SHIT.
May 2nd, 2009
7:43 am
Forgot to mention that this was a coal mining comunity that Japan abandoned after they decided that oil was easer to burn
May 2nd, 2009
3:56 pm
Like a remnd: Koji Suzuki (鈴木光司 Suzuki Kōji born May 13, 1957) is a Japanese writer, who was born in Hamamatsu and currently lives in Tokyo. Suzuki is the author of the Ring cycle of novels, which has been adapted into a manga series.[
May 3rd, 2009
1:13 am
Because of this horror, I am.
May 3rd, 2009
2:20 pm
Very nice story about an well-unknown piece of history, nice photography too. Urban Exploration at its most fun :)
May 3rd, 2009
4:48 pm
ASBESTOSES! check your lungs! but great article none the less
May 4th, 2009
11:54 am
That was freaking awesome.
May 4th, 2009
3:52 pm
OK , you found an abandoned Island,good for you.I didn’t find it that interesting ,sorry !! I also appologise to you if you don’t think anyone elses opinion matters.
May 5th, 2009
1:39 am
[...] Freaky: Battleship Island - Japan’s Rotting Metropolis [...]
May 5th, 2009
3:33 am
Interesting bit of history. I was stationed there in Yokosuka (USS Midway 1988-1989) and Ayase City (VFA-192 1993-1994) and never about this island. I’m sure the Japanese Government can come up with an idea that will restore that island. But thank you for that piece of history.
May 5th, 2009
10:39 pm
[...] L’équipe du Vice Magazine y a posé pied récemment: Battleship Island - Japan’s rotting metropolis [...]
May 7th, 2009
6:24 pm
where’s the coalmine at? wheres all the mining equip. at?
May 8th, 2009
2:28 pm
why have they reopened it? if its still unsafe, why are they letting people on it?
May 8th, 2009
4:03 pm
[...] to go anywhere near the place as it’s beyond restoration and totally unsafe. So thank you to Vice Magazine for these amazing images and bribery of Fisherman skills enabling them to reach it in the first [...]
May 10th, 2009
6:36 am
woo0whh…!!
May 11th, 2009
4:13 am
[...] on the Vice blog there is a very cool article, including photos of a place called Hashima Island. Nicknamed Gunkanjima or Battleship [...]
May 11th, 2009
1:39 pm
[...] Blog has “Battleship Island - Japan’s rotting metropolis“. (Found via Mr. Boat [...]
May 11th, 2009
4:02 pm
Very interesting. The backdrop story only compliments the amazing photographs that were taken. Not to mention, how daring of a risk to take. A mixed of Mission Impossible, Survivor, and History Channel. I loved it!
May 13th, 2009
4:50 am
Heaven. What a shame they reopened it.
May 13th, 2009
10:12 am
is this really vice material?what, no wee or poo?passed out junkies?the only thing vice’ish about it was that it is against the law.so anyway,what happened?i suppose the fisherman came back eh?
May 13th, 2009
3:23 pm
[...] für Betreten beträgt 30 Tage im Gefängnis sowie die anschließende Ausweisung aus Japan. Das Vice Magazine hats trotzdem getan, und die Bilder davon sind extremst geil. (via Cakehead Loves [...]
May 13th, 2009
8:34 pm
this is cool shit i love it i want to live there
May 15th, 2009
4:39 am
excellent piece!
May 17th, 2009
11:32 pm
[...] Battleship Island - Japan’s rotting metropolis A fascinating journey to an abandoned and decaying japanese city island, which was once the most densely populated place on earth. Posted by pixelpark Filed in throughthenoise [...]
May 20th, 2009
6:46 pm
[...] closure. Some Vice authors had been on the Island before the travel ban was lifted. There is a nice coverage of their trip with a lot of picture from inside the [...]
May 22nd, 2009
12:55 pm
[...] leave a comment » Pictures only, for original post go here. [...]
May 22nd, 2009
4:42 pm
[...] by simoncurrie on 2009 May 23日 Saturday Battleship Island ruins photos – now you wouldn’t be able to land as organized tours of one part of the island has [...]
May 26th, 2009
4:53 am
[...] An abandoned island city. (Via @japanesepod101.) Or, if you want a whole blog about “abandoned man-made creations”, try Artificial Owl. [...]
May 31st, 2009
6:51 pm
not interesting?
you shouldnt comment if you didnt find it interesting,go on and continue with your life :D
no comments are needed, :D
good piece!
May 31st, 2009
9:02 pm
[...] - Battleship Island - Japan’s rotting metropolis | Viceland.com These days the only things that land on Hashima Island are the shits of passing seagulls. An hour [...]
June 2nd, 2009
11:21 am
[...] Battleship Island - Japan’s rotting metropolisviceland.com [...]
June 3rd, 2009
9:21 am
More amazing stuff from the same guy is HERE:
http://www.viceland.com/wp/2009/06/communisms-pornographic-stronghold/#more-8984
June 9th, 2009
5:57 pm
Fascinating.
June 9th, 2009
8:50 pm
The Japanese photographer Yuji Saiga visited Gunkanjima twenty or so years ago and took some amazing pictures that really capture the atmosphere of the place, look him up!
June 12th, 2009
11:04 pm
Reminds me a lot of the Pripyat photos published on National Geographic a couple of years ago. I’m just dying to visit one of these ghost towns/cities.
June 14th, 2009
12:55 pm
[...] voor dem International Boyz: Rustiek eiland in de Japanse wateren. Uitermate geschikt als thuisbasis voor Puertoricaanse aangelegenheden en voor [...]
July 5th, 2009
2:57 am
was interesting.like. stumbled here
July 8th, 2009
7:32 pm
[...] the industry that caused it to shut down. The inhabitants fled to the mainland abandoning the city. Viceland launched an illegal visit to the island which warranted a 30 days stay in prison if caught and [...]
July 9th, 2009
2:57 pm
[...] the industry that caused it to shut down. The inhabitants fled to the mainland abandoning the city. Viceland launched an illegal visit to the island which warranted a 30 days stay in prison if caught and [...]
July 15th, 2009
8:38 am
Fantastic photos, great job!
July 16th, 2009
4:53 pm
Very interesting. It shows how ingenious the Japanese are and as well as their self discipline as a whole.
July 16th, 2009
10:53 pm
amazing!
August 10th, 2009
12:45 pm
chain is here.
this is off it.
August 16th, 2009
11:09 am
Thanks to that retarded lie about deportation, I’m never visiting viceland.com again.
August 17th, 2009
5:48 am
[...] Island, as it’s called, has got to be one of the biggest and most impressive. Here’s an account of a visit Alex Hoban paid to the off-limits Battleship Island. Very cool. A former coal mining facility owned by Mitsubishi Motors, it was once the most [...]
August 19th, 2009
4:53 am
mechasugoi!!
August 19th, 2009
5:13 pm
You most likely will not be reading my small, little comment, but rest assured, I would simply like to thank and congratulate you for writing such a beautiful, tense, thrilling and suspenseful article. Thank you. One of the best pieces of articles I read in my life.
September 2nd, 2009
8:42 pm
could you guys put more photos up? they are fascinating!
September 4th, 2009
7:34 am
THIS IS WAY BETTER THAN BABES OF THE BNP
September 5th, 2009
11:33 am
[...] in allt möjligt | Tags: battleship island, dystopi, efter katastrofen, framtid, Japan, semester Hit vill jag åka… Det vore så sjukt cool. Framtid, dystopi, efter katastrofen, ja allt på en [...]
September 8th, 2009
1:40 am
[...] Spotify on S60 - Spotify ######## digg VIDEO of President REAGAN INDOCTRINATING Students Japan’s Rotting Metropolis (PICS) Mythbusters Make A 1 Million Matches Bomb 6 Fake Foods You (Will Wish You Didn’t) Have in [...]
September 8th, 2009
1:49 am
it would be cool to see a Banksy tag on this.
September 8th, 2009
2:41 am
reminds me a bit of I Am Legend
September 8th, 2009
2:51 am
you should watch Battle Royale. A japanese movie which set in that island.
September 8th, 2009
3:37 am
I loved the article. Only one I have been interested in for a while.
September 8th, 2009
3:57 am
＞The Japanese Government aren’t keen to draw unwanted attention to this testament to the hardship of the country’s post-war industrial revolution either
what? It’s not.
It is opened for tourist now.
dont tell a lie. you idiot
September 8th, 2009
5:16 am
[...] Battleship Island – Japan’s rotting metropolis | Viceland.comviceland.com [...]
September 8th, 2009
7:23 am
good place for satsujin jiken
September 8th, 2009
7:53 am
Truly amazing ! Congrats !
September 8th, 2009
8:16 am
wow…, that place was amazing :D
September 8th, 2009
8:48 am
Well done mister Hoban. he done some good stuff for this ere vice
September 8th, 2009
10:49 am
This is pain my friend…
September 8th, 2009
1:51 pm
Someone make this a COD:MW2 Multiplayer Map STAT!
September 8th, 2009
3:17 pm
Very interesting but the writing was way too pretentious.
September 8th, 2009
6:38 pm
That is awesome. You never think about abandoned cities but I guess every state / country has them they just are advertised. I need to try and find some around me and go exploring.
September 8th, 2009
6:40 pm
“bucktoothed fisherman”, eh?
if i was the fisherman i would’ve left you gaijin cunts on that island to rot
September 8th, 2009
8:04 pm
it was a typo. it was a hole mine. went outta business when the hole market dried up.
September 8th, 2009
8:56 pm
[...] Battleship Island – Japan’s rotting metropolis September 8th, 2009 gltss Leave a comment Go to comments via viceland.com [...]
September 9th, 2009
1:40 am
[...] Tags: Battleship Island, Detroit, Hashima Island, Japan, Mitsubishi, tourism, urban decay Interesting article by 2 tourists who investigated Hashima Island, also known as Battleship Island. It is a small [...]
September 9th, 2009
7:44 am
[...] a game of Giant Battleship, it’s a former coal mining town. Here’s an excerpt about the island. A former coal mining facility owned by Mitsubishi Motors, Hashima Island was once the most densely [...]
September 9th, 2009
8:30 pm
[...] Check this place out! Battleship Island! [...]
September 10th, 2009
12:35 am
[...] Battleship Island – Japan’s rotting metropolis | Viceland.com It operated from 1887 until 1974, after which the coal industry fell into decline and the mines were shut for good. (tags: japan photography islands) [...]
September 10th, 2009
5:43 am
when I was a ghost living there i liked to scare people by saying Boo
September 12th, 2009
5:53 am
spiteful bastards
September 12th, 2009
2:51 pm
I guess Japan has their own “Chernobyl”…
September 12th, 2009
5:16 pm
AN IMAGINE TO BE REALISTIC
What a wonderful revealed: war effects of human living.
Actually, a photograph could tell a thousand stories…
Some photos do telling history…
How about bad-look pictures…?!?
Indonesian Business STYLES
September 13th, 2009
9:53 pm
Ugly shit, but it has some history..
September 14th, 2009
1:08 pm
[...] Vice visits Battleship Island, a once densely-populated coal mining community in Japan left to crumble and decay. [...]
September 14th, 2009
2:39 pm
Battleship Island - Japan’s rotting metropolis | Viceland.com…
These days the only things that land on Hashima Island are the shits of passing seagulls. An hour or so’s sail from the port of Nagasaki, the abandoned island silently crumbles. A former coal mining facility owned by Mitsubishi Motors, it was once th…
September 15th, 2009
8:00 pm
Impressive
September 15th, 2009
9:10 pm
Brilliant piece. Really interesting.
September 15th, 2009
9:28 pm
[...] Vice: Battleship Island - Japan’s rotting metropolis [...]
September 16th, 2009
9:47 am
Great pics & story, eye-opener.
(one comment, if it is really as illegal as you say it would be have been common courtesy NOT to show the poor fisherman’s boat in the photo as it would be easy to trace?)
September 16th, 2009
12:50 pm
I went there over the summer it was amazing but i couldn’t get as close
September 16th, 2009
12:59 pm
WOW! Great collection. Would love to see for real.
September 16th, 2009
3:55 pm
[...] vessel, but the ship is soon engulfed by an endless fog that first disintegrates as they sight an unknown land. As the new land reveals its secrets and the Vikings meet a ghastly fate, One-Eye discovers his [...]
September 17th, 2009
5:09 pm
what made you write “the most densely populated place on earth, packing over 13,000 people into each square kilometre”?
places like shanghai or hong kong have 24,000 - 30,000+ in downtown - for decades
September 18th, 2009
11:56 am
TOTALLY HAMAZING
September 20th, 2009
1:20 pm
[...] Battleship Island – Japan’s rotting metropolis. [...]
September 23rd, 2009
9:50 pm
Still the fucking coolest thing on the internet.
September 23rd, 2009
11:36 pm
Now that its gaining popularity, I give it a year before we see the next article about this place…"Building collapses on tourists exploring deserted island in Japan".
September 24th, 2009
3:18 am
Wow, Lovely photos! Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn’t this place feature on the TV show “Life After People” ?
September 26th, 2009
3:21 pm
[...] Battleship Island – Japan’s rotting metropolis (via mutateweb) [...]
October 1st, 2009
8:02 pm
FFFFFERKIN GOOD
October 3rd, 2009
12:34 pm
the story is not bad, but is also superflous, and embarrasing considering it was completely legal to go when you went. the camera used takes good pictures though.
however it still is like thinking you’re gatecrashing into the zoo on a free entrance day. just stupid and pretentious.
LOL
October 3rd, 2009
12:39 pm
the next time i will never return to pick you up. you guys are very stupid to go to this place. i will like to take you again to abandon you.
regards,
fisherman
October 3rd, 2009
2:28 pm
[...] Photo essay: Hashima Island’s decaying ghost town [...]
October 3rd, 2009
4:05 pm
I agree–poor journalism. There is so much more history to the island that was not included in this article. You cannot appreciate the island without knowing the history. The residents of Gunkanjima did not willingly leave the island–they were forced off when the mines closed. With all the articles that have been written about Gunkanjima online, one should have easily written a more constructive and informative article. I’m not interested in seeing a bunch of expats exploring crumbling buildings.
October 3rd, 2009
6:16 pm
Why didn’t the posters or books shown disintegrate? Even their colours were still pretty vivid. There were actually pipes in the roads? It’s hard to believe buildings just naturally disintegrate like that just sitting there. And why would residents leave their personal things and not pack? Weirdness. Thanks for the post.
October 3rd, 2009
7:35 pm
SWEET!!!
October 4th, 2009
12:52 am
[...] Fotos incríveis: Hashima Island, que já foi o lugar mais densamente povoado do planeta – Fotos incríveis de uma pequena ilha japonesa abandonada, repleta de construções. Trata-se de uma instalação de uma mina de carvão que pertenceu à Mitsubishi Motors e que foi o lugar no planeta mais densamente povoado: 13 mil pessoas em um quilômetro quadrado. Funcionou de 1887 até 1974. [...]
October 7th, 2009
11:50 pm
This is reallytotally amazing
October 7th, 2009
11:51 pm
give me a one way ticket
October 9th, 2009
12:48 pm
[...] article. Given that I have a fondness for abandoned civilization, this particular article on Battleship Island, immediately caught my eye. Like that article I linked to a ways back on abandoned Chernobyl, [...]
October 9th, 2009
2:57 pm
[...] Interesting – Battleship Island – Japan’s rotting metropolis (Vice Magazine). [...]
October 10th, 2009
11:41 am
roaming Vicecity
October 14th, 2009
1:26 am
ive always wanted to be able to go and roam around abandonded buildings and whatnot. seems super exciting! cool little project, to say the least. wish i could find out how you got to do this…
October 16th, 2009
2:26 pm
I hear that Mark Romanek wanted to do a music video here, but they couldn’t get permission.
Unfortunately it was for Coldplay. So the Japanese authorities saved this relict from being sullied by Chris Martin bobbing around shouting “speed of sound” like a Bono impersonator.
October 20th, 2009
4:21 am
Google before you write.
October 24th, 2009
8:24 am
Hi, I’m planning to go to this island (but not by the public tour, i want to see the inside of the buildings!
How much did you guys paid the fisherman? Is there more than 1 spot to land?
Thanks!