Hashima Island Reopens To Travel After 20 Years

After more than 20 desolate years, Hashima Island has reopened for visitors.

Hashima Island, more commonly called Battleship Island, is one of several hundred uninhabited islands considered part of the Nagasaki Prefecture in Japan.

The island was established as a coal mining facility in 1887, but as petroleum began to replace coal in the 1960s, Hashima was shut down in 1974.

During 1959, at the height of its productivity, Hashima Island had the highest population density of any area ever measured: an astonishing 1,391 people per hectare lived in the residential district. To put that number in perspective, consider this: New York City has a population density of around 104 people per hectare. Clearly, Hashima was not for the claustrophobic.

Today the concrete buildings (including Japan's first large concreted building, which dates to 1916) and seawall are all that remains, but that could soon change. As of April 22, 2009, tourists will be allowed to set foot on this historic island (under consideration as a UNESCO World Heritage Site).

Until now the only way to view the concrete buildings and industrial facilities was by sightseeing boats that made trips around the island.