Timeless Echoes
Gunkanjima’s Weathered Whispers
In August 2023, I randomly decided to visit Gunkanjima, an artificial island in Nagasaki Prefecture. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and there were talks about closing it to visitors because it’s getting old. Since my kids are grown, and my husband was away on business, I picked a day to go when I didn’t have to be home.
People started living on Gunkanjima in 1890 to dig up coal. At its peak, about 5,000 folks called it home, and it was like a whole city with stores, hospitals, temples, and even movie theaters. But the coal digging stopped in 1974, and the island became deserted.
When I got there, the waves were too rough to step onto the island, but even from the boat, I could see it was quiet and kind of mysterious. The old buildings were falling apart, and there are no plans to fix them up. Gunkanjima is probably the only World Heritage Site left to age without any touch-ups, making it special in its own way. It’s like a time capsule, reminding us how things change over the years.
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