The island of Hashima (Gunkan-Jima) was involved in a prosperous trade as an undersea coal mine from the late 1800s onward. After the mine closed in 1974, the island then became uninhabited. Hashima is more commonly known as Gunkanjima, or Battleship Island because the wall that surrounds the island and its lined-up concrete high-rise apartment blocks giving it the appearance of a battleship. The island is a Unesco World Heritage Site as a part of the Sites of Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution.

Photograph provided by Nagasaki Prefecture Convention and Tourism Association