21 forbidden pictures of the abandoned Japanese island of Gunkanjima

The Japanese island of Hashima looks like a warship. In the early 19th century, coal deposits were discovered here, due to which, in a couple of decades, a full-fledged city with boiling life and vigorous activity has grown here. In anticipation of good profit and a comfortable existence, high-rise buildings, a school, a hospital and all the necessary infrastructure were built on the island. At some point, the population density in the residential area began to reach an incredible figure of 139,100 people per 1 km². But in the mid-70s, with the advent of oil, coal lost its value and Hashima was empty. In 2015, the island was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List as "an object of the Meiji Industrial Revolution: metallurgy, shipbuilding and coal industry."

Until 2009, visiting the island was strictly prohibited. Today, boats and boats with tourists can moor to its shores, but it is still forbidden to go deep into the islands. Photographer Michael Gakuran violated this ban and traveled to the very heart of the island to see and capture his current state.

“Block 65 is a huge concrete ugliness, inside there are rotten tatami and broken doors, a nesting doll forgotten by a child, a tortured mannequin, rusted medical equipment ... Trees sprout between the walls - nature slowly but steadily takes its toll,” Gakuran said after his trip. However, look better yourself.