Hashima
Putting together “Battleship Island” gave us a new perspective on what life was like for the families that lived there.
Japan’s most famous urban ruins weren’t always deserted, as shown in this video from the 1960s when Gunkanjima’s ghost town was still alive and well.
Hashima, also known as Gunkanjima, “Battleship Island,” is an uninhabited island off the coast of Nagasaki which James Bond fans may recognise as the spooky deserted island of bad guy Silva in Skyfall. Access to Hashima, which has been abandoned since the 1970s, is highly restricted – tours do run to the island, but visitors are only permitted to access certain viewing points, and are not allowed anywhere near the crumbling buildings for safety reasons.
But now that researchers from Nagasaki University have created a stunning digital 3-D model of the entire island, you can explore the area from the comfort of your own armchair! The team used camera drones and laser scanners to capture 28,000 images of the site, splicing them together to render the island, and you can check out the results below!