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Nagasaki’s “Battleship Island”, Gunkanjima
By Nick on August 5, 2008
While my brother is gallivanting around Europe, documenting his virtual trips to Russia, France and some beautiful, sun-drenched Mediterranean islands, I’ve been struggling to find time to explore the virtual earth.
I did however learn a little bit about this:
Although it looks as welcoming as Alcatraz, I can assure you it’s much worse. You won’t find tour guides to tell you about this island’s dark secrets. In fact, people are banned from visiting the island altogether!
What you’re looking at is Gunkanjima, an island off the coast of Nagasaki in Japan. It was formerly a coal mining facility before being abandoned. At its peak in 1959, Gunkanjima, also known as Hashima Island, was, incredibly, the most densely populated place on earth at 139,100 people/km² in the residential district, and that record for population density still stands today.
I took a quick snapshot in Google Earth, but for some absolutely breathtakingly scary pictures of Battleship Island, hop over to Architecture Lab.
If you think Gunkanjima looks like a ghost town, you’d be right. In fact, it’s one of 10 Most Amazing Ghost Towns featured in a jaw-dropping article on Oddee.com.
Take a virtual trip to Gunkanjima or some of the other bizarre locations on Oddee’s list, and don’t forget to subscribe to VirtualTripping.com as Mark and I continue our digital travels around the world.
Learn more about Gunkanjima
Posted in Asia | 2 Comments
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2 Responses to “Nagasaki’s “Battleship Island”, Gunkanjima”
Comments
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Mark Ramsay, globetrotting from an armchair in England.
6:27 pm on August 6th, 2008
It just goes to show that we have islands in this world that people may have never seen or even know of because they belong to companies or military governments who will not let people on these islands for their own personal reasons. But it is sad that the islands of Kiribati are sinking as i believe they are one of the most scenenic islands in the world. Wow that island used to be populated i don’t believe it.
3:31 am on August 7th, 2008
Mark, make sure you look at that Most Amazing Ghost Towns link. It’s incredible.