Made famous in the latest James Bond movie, "Skyfall," Hashima Island is home to a ghostly uninhabited collection of apartment blocks -- all are ruined and crumbling.
Exploring 'James Bond' island —
Made famous in the latest James Bond movie, "Skyfall," Hashima Island is home to a ghostly uninhabited collection of apartment blocks -- all are ruined and crumbling.
Diana Magnay/Yoko Wakatsuki/CNN
Hashima, off the coast of Nagasaki in western Japan, was opened to tourists four years ago but access is strictly limited.
Exploring 'James Bond' island —
Hashima, off the coast of Nagasaki in western Japan, was opened to tourists four years ago but access is strictly limited.
Diana Magnay/Yoko Wakatsuki/CNN
Archive photograph from before World War II shows the steep stairs leading into the warren of apartments inside the huge housing blocks on Hashima.
Exploring 'James Bond' island —
Archive photograph from before World War II shows the steep stairs leading into the warren of apartments inside the huge housing blocks on Hashima.
Gunkanjima Concierge
The same staircase captured more than half a century later.
Exploring 'James Bond' island —
The same staircase captured more than half a century later.
Diana Magnay/Yoko Wakatsuki/CNN
Japan wants Hashima recognized as a UNESCO world heritage site but South Korea objects due to its association with wartime slave laborers.
Exploring 'James Bond' island —
Japan wants Hashima recognized as a UNESCO world heritage site but South Korea objects due to its association with wartime slave laborers.
Diana Magnay/Yoko Wakatsuki/CNN
Miners descend down a mine shaft on Hashima -- the last pit closed in 1974.
Exploring 'James Bond' island —
Miners descend down a mine shaft on Hashima -- the last pit closed in 1974.
Gunkanjima Concierge
The water in the baths was always black because the miners would jump in fully clothed at the end of a long day.
Exploring 'James Bond' island —
The water in the baths was always black because the miners would jump in fully clothed at the end of a long day.
Gunkanjima Concierge
Archive photograph from the 1960s shows children playing in the stairways of the apartment blocks. At that time the population density on the island was among the highest in the world.
Exploring 'James Bond' island —
Archive photograph from the 1960s shows children playing in the stairways of the apartment blocks. At that time the population density on the island was among the highest in the world.
Gunkanjima Concierge
Image from the late 1800s shows Hashima developing its coal mining facility.
Exploring 'James Bond' island —
Image from the late 1800s shows Hashima developing its coal mining facility.
Gunkanjima Concierge