Lonely Planet

88 Lonely Planet Traveller October 2017My secret marvelHASHIMAAs the boat leaves Nagasaki port,heading for the ‘Ghost Island’ ofHashima, I’m finding it hard tokeep calm. I keep scanning the horizon for theunmistakable ship-like silhouette that givesthe place its nickname: Battleship Island.We leave the shoreline, passing boats, bargesand uninhabited small islands, then someonecalls: ‘There it is!’ Sure enough, just like a navalwarship, the island seems to float on the surfaceof the water, faded yet unmistakable.Visiting Hashima had been on my bucket listfor years, first while living in Japan in the ’90s,then later again as photos of this wastelandcityscape began to surface in popular culture.Most famously, it was used as the villain’s lairin the 2012 James Bond film, Skyfall.``````Ironically, Hashima, owned by a coalcompany, was once the most denselypopulated place in Japan. When the coal mineclosed in 1974, however, it took only fourmonths for the island to be abandoned. Itsdormitories, equipment, schools, clinics andtemples were all left behind like somethingout of a post-apocalyptic dream. Now buildingshave sloughed away, revealing forgottendolls, televisions and kitchen appliances. Vine-choked alleyways are strewn with rubble fromthe evocative, artful decay. As we arrive andclamber out onto walkways, I feel like I’m beingescorted into a world of science fiction. Rustediron spikes are twisted into claw-like fingers.The mineshaft seems like a gaping mouth.I blink and see ghosts of miners coming upfrom the depths, blackened from head to toe.We stop at a safe distance away from thestructures, in case of sudden collapses. The``````group, a chatty bunch of mainly Japanesetourists, has fallen silent, sombre. I imaginespending a night on the island, watching as thesun soaks the cement. It’s impressively bleak,devoid of not just human life, but any life atall. I’m hard-pressed to spot even a seagullwheeling around in the sky. As we return tothe boat, I think of the Inca, the Maya, theAnasazi, the Egyptian pharaohs. Will Tokyo andNew York and Paris look like this some day?Who lived here? People will wonder, as theypass along marked paths. What caused themto leave? Where did they go? When the boatfinally docks, the throngs of people aroundme seem more precious, and morefragile. It’s a feeling that takes a longtime to fade.By Ray BartlettO Access is only via guided tour from Nagasaki’sport. See gunkanjima-concierge.com.