Thanks to my feedly feedly and the blogger on kirainet.com, I got diverted from early Sunday morning writing to learn about Hashima aka Gunkanjima (Battleship Island). It’s a very small island in Nagasaki Prefecture that was bought by Mitsubishi in 1890 after coal was discovered underneath it. Workers were brought in and an entire little town flourished there as one of the most densely populated places on earth until the coal was depleted and the town shut down in 1974. Amazing story, and even more amazing photos and video:
I so want go there with cameras in hands. The thought of up to 5000 people being born, living, and dying in this cramped artificial “company island” over the span of 80 years astounding. Apparently, there is limited access to the island now, which is administered by Nagasaki. Historians and journalist can get special permission, so I think I’m going to have to flash my creds and go there as some sort of ruins of memory project.
