“007: Skyfall”: Discover the story of the Dark Ghost Island featured in the film

In 2012, ‘007: Skyfall’ featured scenes recorded on the ghost island of Hashima, which served as a hiding place for villainous Raoul Silva, played by Javier Bardem.

But do you know the history of the island?

Appearing worthy of post-apocalyptic settings, the island was built in 1887 by the Mitsubishi Group as a floating city located in Nagasaki Bay, which served as a prison for workers who mined underwater coal during the era. Meiji.

Since coal was the raw material that powered machines during the period of industrialization in Japan, the island was designed as a captivity, so that workers could not leave it.

Due to the heavy labor, many Japanese gave up their jobs at the start of the industrial transition in the country, so they began to smuggle Chinese and Korean immigrants, forcing them to work as slaves.

It was then that the idea was born to create the island, also called Gunkanjima by the Japanese, something like “Battleship Island”, because its structure is similar to a battleship in aerial view.

Slavery in the fortress lasted almost 60 years, ending after the defeat of Japan in World War II.

However, mining work continued until 1974, when coal reserves were depleted.

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Until then, around 5,000 people lived, grew and died inside the walls of the island, which became a heap of ruins with the escape of its inhabitants and began to attract many curious people.

From the late 1970s to 2009, public visits to the site were banned. However, due to its dark past and unique architecture, the island has become a tourist attraction.

However, to gain access to the entrance, it is necessary to undergo a rigorous health examination due to the weather conditions and effects caused by the salty air off the coast of Nagasaki, which is close to the region.

With approximately 40,000 square meters, the island is home to abandoned residential buildings, prisons, command posts, cafeterias and other facilities necessary to accommodate the people who lived there.

In addition to the ghostly appearance of the place, the invasion of algae and insects added to bird droppings has left the island looking even more frightening.

In 2015, Unesco declared the captivity as a World Heritage Site, which generated serious and fair controversy, as its hallways and rooms were used as a prison and remain a stain for the Japanese and a wound for the Chinese. and Koreans.

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