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Gunkanjima

— Nagasaki's abandoned coal-mining island

historyThe classic — done right

A former coal-mining island in the sea off Nagasaki, walled in concrete and left empty when the mine closed. Landing tours sail from Nagasaki Port when the sea allows, and visitors walk a fixed route across one corner of the island.

FromNagasaki Station
~40 min by boatCruise boat, booked ahead
Get off atNagasaki Port Terminal (Ohato tram stop)
From there
Gunkanjima

Directions ↗

Where it is

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What to look for — in walking order

Hashima's apartment blocksNsxbln / CC BY-SA 4.0

Dolphin pierthe island's single landing stage, where the boats come alongside
The visitor walkwaya fixed route with three fenced plazas, the only ground open to visitors
Second shaft pier ruinsconcrete stumps of the pier that once served the mine's second shaft
The general office buildingthe administration block that also held the miners' bathhouse
Building No. 30Japan's first reinforced-concrete apartment block, with the island school behind it

How to actually get there

Nagasaki Station → Ohato (tram), then walk to Nagasaki Port Terminal.
Check in with the operator you booked, and board the cruise boat.
Cross to Hashima and land at the Dolphin pier if conditions allow.
Walk the fixed route past the viewing plazas, then reboard for the circuit of the island.

Tram to Ohato, then a cruise boat: Nagasaki Station →(tram)→ Ohato stop, then a short walk to Nagasaki Port Terminal, where most operators check passengers in. The crossing takes roughly forty minutes each way, and the whole trip runs between two and a half and three and a half hours depending on which company you book.
Back at the port: Boats return to the pier they left from. The last departures of the day are in the early afternoon, so there is no evening option — if a sailing is cancelled you are waiting for another day rather than another boat. Keep the rest of the afternoon loose.

Directions from my location (Google Maps) ↗

About the place

Hashima lies in open water southwest of Nagasaki, a slab of concrete inside a seawall built to take the weight of the East China Sea. Mitsubishi worked coal from shafts running out beneath the seabed, and as output grew the company enlarged the island itself, tipping mine spoil into the shallows until the original rock disappeared under fill. Apartment blocks went up to house the miners and their families, packed so tightly that the silhouette from a boat reads as a warship — which is where the nickname Gunkanjima came from. Nothing has been maintained since the mine shut, and the sea has been taking the buildings apart ever since.

How to enjoy it

Book weeks ahead. Five companies sail from Nagasaki Port, most of them on a morning and an early-afternoon departure, and each run takes about half a day. Take the morning boat if you have the choice: if it is cancelled the afternoon sailing is still there to fall back on. Wear shoes you can walk on broken concrete in — umbrellas are not allowed on the walkway, so bring a rain jacket instead.

Background & history

Coal was mined here under Mitsubishi from the late nineteenth century. The island's population peaked in 1960 at about 5,300, the densest concentration of people in Japan at the time, and among its blocks stood the country's first reinforced-concrete apartment building. The mine closed in the 1970s and the island emptied within months. It stayed off-limits for decades, opened to guided landings in 2009, and was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2015 as part of the Sites of Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution.

Before you go

Cash: The tour fare is paid to the operator when you book, and the city charges a separate facility fee on top: 650 yen for adults and 320 yen for school-age children at the time of writing.
Good to know: Landing is called off whenever swell, wind or visibility passes the thresholds the city sets, and a boat can turn back after leaving the pier; operators then run the circuit of the island instead. Landing rates vary sharply from month to month. There is no shade, no shelter and no toilet on the island.
Another way: Some operators board at Tokiwa Pier in Matsugae-machi, south of the port terminal, rather than at the terminal itself. Check which pier your booking names before you set out.
After you get off: From the Ohato tram stop the port terminal is about five minutes on foot. Operators check in either at the terminal or at their own pier, so allow time to find the right desk.