Ruins on Gunkanjima - No. 2

Silence reigns in the coal storage & miners' residences

Takako Sakamoto Oct 14, 2014 - 2 min read

<p>No. 3 apartment building overlooking the grounds. Natural aloe flowers are growing here and there</p>

<p>The first sight of Gunkanjima I had upon landing</p>

<p>No. 3 Apartment was once a residential building for executive employees where each room was equipped with a bathtub</p>

<p>In 1893, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries built an elementary school, which became Hashima Elementary and Junior-high School, operated by Hashima town</p>

<p>Clean coal was transferred to the coal storage by this conveyer belt. Now just the support pillars of the belt remain here</p>

<p>This seven-story building was built in 1958; it must have been one of the most advanced and largest buildings in Japan at the time</p>

<p>Coal mines on Gunkanjima were closed down in 1974, and on April 20th everyone left the island; it has been uninhabited ever since</p>

<p>The 1st to the 4th floors were used as the elementary school, from 5th to 7th were for the junior-high school, and on the 6th floor there was a lecture hall. In 1970, there was even an elevator that delivered school lunch for students</p>

<p>When you stand here, you can well imagine how people once lived their daily lives here</p>

<p>Children must have smiled a big smile in each window of these buildings</p>

<p>It almost looks like battlefield ruins...miners must have risked their lives mining coals as soldiers would do in the battlefields</p>

<p>Silence permeated the ruins, but I could almost hear the voices of the miners and other people who once lived here</p>

On New Year's Day this year, I landed on the island in Nagasaki commonly called, 'Gunkanjima, the Battleship Island'.

The official name of this island is Hashima. Visitors are not allowed to explore freely due to safety reasons; uninhabited for forty years since the closure of Hashima Coal Mines, the buildings on the island have been damaged by exposure to the elements and can collapse anytime! Only three areas on the south side of the island are open to the public. Still, you will not be disappointed to see just these areas!

First, you will see a seven-story building, once an elementary and junior-high school for children of miners. It looks ready to collapse, but I could well imagine the happy faces of the children who once studied here. Their happy faces were the fruit of the efforts of their fathers, who risked their lives to ensure their children's happiness!

Undersea Coal Mine Island, 'Gunkanjima' 1. Gunkanjima Perspective - No. 1 2. Ruins on Gunkanjima - No. 2 3. Gunkanjima: Undersea Entrance - No. 3

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Takako Sakamoto @takako.sakamoto

I was born in and grew up in Tokushima prefecture, and have lived in many places since then: Nishinomiya, Kyoto, Nara, Mie, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Fukuoka and Fukui. I am currently living in Yokohama City. All the places I lived, all the places I visited, I have loved dearly. The histor...