Gunkanjima: Ruins of a Forbidden Island. Gunkanjima – every urban explorer’s dream. A deserted island of concrete ruins slowly crumbling away off the West coast of Japan. Travellers have long been forbidden to land there and view the secrets within its walls. But with an awesome guide and a little luck, I was able to do just that. Here’s my story. Night Infiltration?

Gunkanjima (軍艦島) – literally ‘Battleship Island’ – is the nickname for Hashima Island (端島), named so because it has an uncanny resemblance to a military warship. Once just a small reef, the discovery of coal in 1. But by 1. 97. 4, the dream was gone. Petroleum came in place of coal, the mines were shut down and the now jobless workers were forced to leave. In a matter of days the island was deserted – everything left exactly as it was, to slumber eternally in the same position like a broken clock face. Since then visitors have been prohibited to land on this haikyo (ruined) island.

Gunkanjima (軍艦島) – literally ‘Battleship Island’ – is the nickname for Hashima Island (端島), named so because it has an uncanny resemblance to a. Directed by Yoshinobu Nishizaki, Takeshi Shirato. With Kôichi Yamadera, Kentarô Itô, Daisuke Namikawa, Chafûrin. In the year 2220 A.D., the Earth Federation.

Battleship ist ein US-amerikanischer Science-Fiction-Actionfilm aus dem Jahr 2012. Der Film entstand unter der Regie von Peter Berg und ist mit Taylor Kitsch. Battleship Potemkin (Russian: Бронено́сец «Потёмкин», Bronenosets Patyomkin), sometimes rendered as Battleship Potyomkin, is a 1925 Soviet silent.

Directed by Peter Berg. With Alexander Skarsgård, Brooklyn Decker, Liam Neeson, Rihanna. A fleet of ships is forced to do battle with an armada of unknown origins in.

Right up until April 2. The landing ban on Hashima was lifted and the first tourist boats in years were to be allowed to land. My dream of secretly chartering a boat and infiltrating the place under cover of night was dashed. They made it into a tourist attraction?? How could they!? But my disappointment was not to last. While it is true that it is no longer illegal to land on the island through the designated tours, it is still prohibited to for individuals to explore deep inside. All the interesting places like the well- known ‘Stairway to Hell’ or ‘Block 6.

Yes, it was clear no tourist trip was going to satisfy my curiosity to walk the corridors of a 1. Live site or not, I needed to get inside those concrete relics. An impenetrable fortress. It seemed like an impossible feat, and certainly not one I could undertake by myself. Even if I could get to the island, navigating it safely and in a timely manner would be tremendously difficult. It was my good fortune then, to meet Ikumi. Concept Designer by day; Urban Explorer by night.

It was that such meeting that led to me sitting in a dimly- lit car at 4. Nagasaki. Munching on some adzuki bread in the passenger seat, I carefully eyed the figures of the local fisherman outside as they lit up their cigarettes.“Those bastards. Watch Revenge Of The Electric Car 4Shared. Look at them puffing away. The sun hasn’t even peaked out yet! If any more of them come, there isn’t going to be enough space on the boat…”“Don’t worry, don’t worry”, Ikumi comforted me. It’ll be fine. But what about those people over there.?

Don’t they look like photographers to you? Haikyoists, perhaps?”They did indeed. A couple of young Japanese guys, one wrapped up in the typical ‘couldn’t- care- less’ head towel and another with a camera draped around his shoulder.“Might have company today…” Ikumi murmured. It was something like Ikumi’s 6th time to visit Battleship Island. I felt as though I was in capable hands. She’d briefed me on the safety aspects beforehand and how our efforts may be in vain if the weather suddenly turned. Not long after, the fisherman began hustling aboard a boat.

Ikumi ushered me to follow and we liaised with the captain. A quick nod and we were setting foot onto something seaworthy with our two photographer friends following behind. Now all we had to worry about was the landing. Apparently due to tumultuous tides and whimsical weather, being able to dock a boat on Gunkanjima can be as difficult as infiltrating the island itself. Fortunately, today was to be my lucky day. One calm sea and one Battleship Island cast in a cold morning gloom stretched before us. Before we knew it, we had passed the sea wall surrounding the island and were breathing heavily inside.

I’m in! my brain whirred. Watch Insight Of Evil Online Free HD. Right, where’s my E- P1 and that ultra wide Panasonic 7- 1. And tripod. Check. Alrighty then…The regular tour boats would be circling the island in just a few short hours, so we’d need to make haste. So much to see! So much to shoot! I didn’t quite know where to point my camera at first, but the infamous Jigokudan (地獄段) staircase (above) lay before me.

It is known as the Staircase to Hell because, apparently, running up the steps will exhaust you to the extent that you feel hellish pain. No time to attempt it today though…Snap snap. Hmm… Maybe a different angle would bring out this shot better.? Snap.“Come on!” called Ikumi. We’ve got to hurry.” I quickly followed her and noticed our two photographer friends disappearing off on an adventure of their own.

Tiny, yet huge. Gunkanjima only measures 1. Less than half a kilometre lengthways, I was surprised at how much smaller it was than I had been expecting.

That’s not to say we got to take a good look at everything though. With stopping to take pictures and getting lost in the undergrowth enveloping the old buildings, the time quickly passed. Most of it was spent taking exterior shots. I figured that we may be blessed twice and get back the following morning too. That would be reserved for interior exploration. As it so happened, we were blessed, but even with two landings we couldn’t begin to capture the full scale of the island.

Block 6. 5 (６５棟), the huge, towering concrete monstrosity that housed a great many of the island’s worker’s back in its heyday lived up to its reputation (below). Ikumi had been chatting to me about how she’d like to do a sweep of the place and take a picture of every room, but after thoroughly investigating the top couple of floors, we realised it would take a good day or two to really see everything this island has to offer.

We didn’t even get to see half of Block 6. Most of the rooms were empty, save for rotting tatami mats and broken doors, so it took time for us to discover things of interest. When we did though, the feeling was so much more powerful. One such oddity we hunted high and low for was the old children’s toy Poron- chan (ぽろんちゃん) – one of those self- righting dolls. Not quite the cutie anymore though…Advancing onwards, Ikumi dipped under a ledge and took me inside another of the buildings.

Clambering up a couple of flights of stone steps, we peered out into the narrow gap between the buildings with trees spewing out of the crevices. Nature slowly reclaiming the land. I hastily set up my tripod, snapped a few shots and dashed off again after Ikumi, shooting video footage as we moved. There was no other way with the limited time we had. Around the far side of the island, a vivd blue morning sky stretched out over the old school building. Making good use of my wide angle lens, I just about managed to cram the whole thing and the next door hospital in. No time to look around inside much though.

Hopping out from the school we poked our heads inside the hospital. This island really did have everything – except for a cemetery – but only the bones of rusted medical equipment and a decapitated manikin remained.

Looks like this old girl has seen better days too, judging from this old magazine cover I tracked down online…The early morning sun on both days was stunning. With all the hidey- holes and interesting architecture Gunkanjima had to offer, we often stumbled across beautiful scenes of destruction. Here’s one such shot of Ikumi enjoying the fleeting golden rays. And yours truly striking the Gakuranman pose in a moment of excitement.

Ikumi snapped a good amount of decent shots as we darted around, including the cracker at the top of this post and the eerie blue- tinted shot of some buildings. She claims her interest in photography is only secondary to her love of the explore, but I reckon she’s got some talent! Temporarily trapped? It felt like we’d only just arrived but time soon crept up on us. By the end of the second day, I was frantic trying to see every last thing I could. This may be the one and only chance I had to explore the legendary Battleship Island, so I didn’t want to miss anything.“Mike, come on!

The boat will be here soon!” came an irritated voice a couple of floors down. I was standing alone in the dim light of Block 6. Mitsubishi sewing machine.“Okay, okay.