I've only just seen this, so I don't know exactly when these photos were taken or under what circumstances. And since the page isn't working for me right now (perhaps its bandwidth is spent), it's kind of hard to check.
There were also these photos of an abandoned amusement park I saw a while ago.
Posts: 1762 | Registered: Apr 2006
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I had never heard of Centralia. I wonder if there's a good photo book on ghost towns.
I can see the page again. Here's some background on the island:
quote:Hashima Island (端島; meaning "Border Island"), commonly called Gunkanjima (軍艦島; meaning "Battleship Island") is one among 505 uninhabited islands in the Nagasaki Prefecture about 15 kilometers from Nagasaki itself. The island was populated from 1887 to 1974 as a coal mining facility. The island's most notable features are the abandoned concrete buildings and the sea wall surrounding it.
"Battleship Island" is an English translation of the Japanese nickname for Hashima Island, "Gunkan-jima". The island's nickname came from its apparent resemblance to a battleship, or "gunkan" (jima/shima meaning island) due to its high sea-walls. It also is known as the Ghost Island. It is known for its coal mines and their operation during the industrialization of Japan. Mitsubishi bought the island in 1890 and began the project, the aim of which was retrieving coal from the bottom of the sea. They built Japan's first large concrete building, a block of apartments in 1916 to accommodate their burgeoning ranks of workers, and to protect against typhoon destruction.
In 1959, its residential area population density was 337 people per acre, or 83,476.2 inhabitants per kmē[1], supposedly the highest population density ever recorded worldwide.
This site has some GREAT photos of various urban ruins, including some abandoned mental institutions. They're creepy and sad and just plain awesome photos.
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Typical.
