The most beautiful ruins in the world is “gunkanjima”(Battleship Island) in Nagasaki,Japan.
Landing of tha gunkanjima had been prohibited up to now,
but General was open to the public in April, 2009, and landing became possible.
So many tourist visit gunkanjima !
No one lives in mere ruins now,
but about 5300 people lived in 1960,
where the island of only 1.2km in surroundings.
It is said that it boasted of the best population density in the world.
Gunkanjima prospered in colliery.
It is about 40 minutes in the ship from the Nagasaki port.
Only 160m in east and west, only 480m in south and north,
it is a surprise that such a small island prospered.
In 1916, the first reinforced concrete high-rise buildings in Japan are completed.
In 1958, elementary and junior high schools were constructed.
However, the mining of coal was work of a high risk high return.
Gunkanjima is a bottom of the sea colliery.
The temperature 30 degrees and 95% in humidity,
in the point of 1000m or more under the surface of the sea,
severe labor was pressed to the resident.
Still, coal was a main axis in the energy source,
the colliery industry was a brilliant winner industry.
However, the situation changes completely by the appearance of oil.
In the social structure that rapidly shifts from coal to oil,
the most brilliant coal industry change suddenly,
into the declining industry that is not the future.
The population decreases suddenly with a decrease in the amount of the coal mining, too.
It became a close of a mine in 1974, and it became an uninhabited island.
Thus, gunkanjima became uninhabited ruins,
and the island without industry except the colliery was not dismantled the building,
and became “Bulky garbage item” of Japan.
In the favor,it became beautiful ruins.
There is so no place where ruins only of this have been left.
Gunkanjima is not only a spot of mere ruins mania,
it came in the place crowded with a lot of tourists,
because it has the background as industral heritage.
There is movement of making it to World Heritage.
I want to encourage to go to the island to visit the best ruins in the world.
Gunkanjima images
http://www.kasako.com/0909gunkanfoto.html