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Hashima Island Was An Industrial Pole With Forced Labor To World Tourist Attraction, With Ruins Marked By Abandonment And Controversy
About 15 kilometers from Nagasaki, Japan, is Hashima Island. Abandoned for decades, it has become a tourist attraction and carries a history marked by progress, forced labor, and abandonment. Today, its crumbling buildings, overtaken by nature, are a silent portrait of a complex past.
With only 6.3 hectares, Hashima was once densely populated. At its peak, in 1959, more than 5,200 people lived on the small island. However, in 1974, the island was deactivated and emptied. Since then, it has earned the nickname “Ghost Island,” attracting the attention of tourists and the curious.
The Emergence Of Hashima Island
The history of Hashima begins in 1887, during the Meiji Era, a period of industrialization and modernization in Japan. It was in this context that Mitsubishi designed the island as a base for underwater coal extraction.
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To protect the buildings from the region’s strong waves, a seawall was built around the island. Viewed from above, its appearance resembled that of a battleship, which earned it the nickname Gunkanjima, or “Battleship Island.”
The island was not just a mine but a true miniature city, with housing, schools, and basic services, all aimed at the coal mining workers.
The Use Of Forced Labor
Despite the apparent progress, Hashima’s past is also marked by dark practices. During World War II, Japan resorted to the use of slave labor from Chinese and Korean prisoners to maintain coal production.
According to an article from The Guardian, thousands of workers were forced to work on the island under extreme conditions. This period only ended with the war’s conclusion in 1945, when Japan ceased the use of this labor force.
The Abandonment Of The Island
Even after the end of forced labor, coal mining continued to be active for a few years. The island’s population continued to grow, reaching its peak in 1959, with 5,259 inhabitants.
However, coal reserves began to deplete. In 1974, the mines were closed, and all residents had to leave the island. Since then, Hashima has remained uninhabited, with its buildings slowly being consumed by time and weather.
Cinema Scenery And Tourism
For 30 years, access to the island was completely prohibited. Only from 2009 was it reopened for tourist visits.
With its crumbling buildings, Hashima’s landscape resembles a post-apocalyptic setting, attracting visitors from all over the world. To visit the island, it is necessary to present a health examination as a safety measure.
The island’s unique aspect also caught Hollywood’s attention. Director Sam Mendes used Hashima as one of the filming locations for the movie “007 – Skyfall,” released in 2012.
International Recognition And Controversy
In July 2015, Hashima Island was recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, within the series “Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution.”
The recognition was only possible after an agreement between Japan and South Korea. The South Koreans agreed to support the nomination as long as Japan acknowledged the use of slave labor on the island.
However, according to the newspaper The Asahi Shimbun, Japan initially breached the agreement by creating a museum that denied the use of forced labor. In 2021, the 21 countries on the UNESCO committee pressured Japan to correct the information.
Only in 2023 did Japan make new additions to the museum, including references to the past, but still with distortions, according to The Hankyoreh.
With information from Aventuras na História.
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