Hashima is an island near the city of Nagasaki. It is part of Nagasaki Prefecture located on the island of Kyushu. Inhabited since 1890 for the exploitation of coal mines, the island was abandoned in April 1974. Since then, the island which is also called Gunkanjima , the Battleship island (because its form is comparable to a ship) has become a ghost island.
At its epic period (1950), Gunkanjima had up to 5300 people, including women and children. Indeed, coal mining is flourishing, the owner of the island, Mitsubishi conglomerate, settled the entirety of mining families on the island. Homes, schools, shops, services, administration of the mine, a hospital and even play areas for children, were installed to facilitate the daily lives of miners and their families on the island. The decline of mining was very fast. By January 1974, the mines were closed and in April 1974, the last inhabitants abandoned the island and all the infrastructure.
Today it is possible to visit a part of the island in ruins. Indeed, as neglected, all the infrastructure built before falling apart. For safety reasons, only a small portion of the island is accessible to the public. There are 3 companies that take you on a tour of the island : Gunkanjima Concierge Company (from the port terminal Tokiwa in Nagasaki ) Gunkanjima Cruise (from Nagasaki port terminal at Pier Motofuna ) and Yamasa Shipping Co. Ltd. (same as the previous). The cruise includes round trip from the port to Hashima and a visit of about 1 hour on the island. It costs between 4000 and 4500 included 300 yen (entrance fees on the island imposed by the government for the preservation of the island). The journey takes about 3 hours.
You can book your cruise online but if you did not think of it before (just like us), you can find a few remaining places directly in terminal desk (in week days of course) on the 2 companies in the Nagasaki Terminal, Motofuna Pier. If you do not have a guide (which was our case), a coast guard brings people who are not part of groups to make the tour in English (well he tries as he can to be understood : D). Important, if the weather is bad on your booking day, the company reserves the rights to cancel the visit of the island. In this case, they just make a circuit around the island for you to see the island. For information, Gunkanjima Island hosted the shooting of a part of the film Skyfall and the filming of Attack of the Titans 2015.
That's it! With all this information, you are ready to board! Now go watch the video, you will have a first impression of the visit .... Good trip!