Hatrack River Forum: Photos from an abandoned island

This is topic Photos from an abandoned island in forum Books, Films, Food and Culture at Hatrack River Forum.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
http://www.hatrack.com/ubb/main/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=047257

Posted by Euripides (Member # 9315) on :

PopURLs/Digg junkies will have already seen this, but:

Photos from a now off-limits mining town.

Amazing, in a haunting sort of way.

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.

Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :

Both of those are friggin spooky. And I didn't think it could get more spooky than this.

Posted by Euripides (Member # 9315) on :

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 km²[1], supposedly the highest population density ever recorded worldwide.

Courtesy of wikipedia.

quote:
The movie "Midori Naki Shima" ("The Greenless Island", 1949) was shot there.

Neat. I should go see this.

quote:
It was also the setting for the final level in the video game Killer7.

Typical.

Posted by xnera (Member # 187) on :

Very cool photos.

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.

Posted by Euripides (Member # 9315) on :

That's a great link. Thanks xnera.