Yves Marchand and Romain Meffre. Gunkanjima.

Steidl, Göttingen 2013. 29,5 x 37 cm. 108 S. Gebunden.- Hashima is a small island located off the extreme southwest coast of Japan, about ten miles from Nagasaki. Its darkwarship-like silhouette earned it the nickname of Gunkanjima (“battleship island”). During the wave of industrialisation in the nineteenth century, a coal seam was discovered on the island and the Mitsubishi corporation opened a mine there. Workers settled on the island and the population increased, the small mining town quickly becoming a modern and autonomous settlement.- During the 1950s, Gunkanjima became one of the most densely populated places in the world with over 5,000 inhabitants. But after an accident and the restructuring of the Mitsubishi mining project, the mine closed in January 1974. The last inhabitants deserted the island, the connection by boat was suspended, and since then Gunkanjima has become a ghost town.- Marchand and Meffre photographed the island between 2008 and 2012.- Hashima, auch Gunkanjima oder Kriegsschiff-Insel genannt, diente ursprünglich dem unterseeischen Kohleabbau. Heute bietet die verlassene Insel ein unheimliches Ausflugsziel. Besucher können überwucherte Industrieanlagen, halb verfallene Betonwohnblöcke der Arbeiter und die sogenannte „Treppe zur Hölle“ besichtigen. Außerdem gibt es einen ruhigen Shinto-Schrein im Zentrum und eine Begrenzungsmauer mit Aussicht auf das Ostchinesische Meer.