GUNKANJIMA CONCIERGE

Gunkanjima Concierge organizes tours to Gunkanjima, which cannot be landed on individually. Gunkanjima is a once-inhabited island located about 18 km southwest off Nagasaki Port. Its official name is Hashima, but it is called “Gunkanjima” (Battleship Island) because its shape resembles a warship. Coal was discovered here in the late Edo period, and development began in 1870 (Meiji 3). Until the mine closed in 1974 (Showa 49), miners and their families lived on the island for 104 years, and today the remains of that era remain. The crumbling ruins—such as Japan’s oldest 7-story reinforced concrete apartment building—evoke the history of Japan’s modernization. Part of Gunkanjima, including Meiji-era seawalls and undersea coal mine tunnels, is registered as a component of the World Heritage site “Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution: Iron and Steel, Shipbuilding and Coal Mining.” Because the tour visits places that involve some risk due to deterioration, participants move together as a group. It is said that landings may become impossible at any time, so it is recommended to visit while you still can. Access to the Gunkanjima Concierge cruise departure point (Tokiwa Terminal): by public transportation, take the tram from JR Nagasaki Station on Line 1 bound for Shokakuji-shita, transfer at “Tsukimachi” to Line 5 bound for Ishibashi, get off at “Oura Kaigan-dori” (two stops after Tsukimachi), then walk to Tokiwa Terminal. By car, use the Nagasaki Dejima Road from the Nagasaki Expressway, park at the Tokiwa Prefectural Parking Lot near the Oura Kaigan-dori intersection, and walk to the terminal.