‘Stairway to Hell’

and walk to Senpukuji Temple | View map

Behold in front of you, the infamous ‘Stairway to Hell’. The staircase, found between buildings 57 (a shop) and 16, linked to a range of areas amongst the labryinth of apartment blocks to connect neighbours and friends, communal baths and recreation areas - staircases are a common theme on the island, serving essentially as a highway system.

However at the very top of the summit, after a walk described as making one feel 'hellish pain', you find Senpukuji Temple.

Take the walk of hell

In front of the temple lays a shrine, which was of great spiritual importance to the miners of the island who would risk their lives every day working in the intense atmospheres of the pit.

Each year on the 3rd of April, the entire island held celebrations to represent the shrine's ‘Yamagami Festival’. An old worshipper's hall once stood where the altar was, but collapsed and all that remains is the sacred shrine.

Block 65

Building 65 | Constructed 1945 | View map

In front of you lies block 65, a 9 storey high construction featuring 317 apartments.

Stand in front of block 65 and look right to see ‘Salt rain crossing’ – this is where people had to wait for waves caused by typhoons to crash in before crossing to markets and shops, as water consumed parts of the area. Take the crossing

Built in 1945 while the Second World War was still going on, it was the only building in the whole of Japan to actually be built in this period, earning it the nickname ‘In Our Country's Service’.

After the initial construction, three further developments took place – 1947, where two extra floors were added, ‘49 when the east sector was built and finally in ‘53 which included a Kindergarten on the roof.

Primary School

Building 70 | Constructed 1958 | View map

You currently stand in the playground of Hashima school which you see in front of you – featuring 7 floors, this was the home of education and children on Gunkanjima island and was the final building to ever be made there.

The ground to the fourth floor held primary school while fifth to seventh had middle/junior-high school, the 7th also containing both a gymnasium and a theatre. Towards the end of the island's populated years, in 1970 a lunch hall was installed along with the island's only lift was installed – but was only ever used for transporting goods and school meals.

On March 31st 1974 the school closed for the final time, where the children of the school grouped themselves together to form ‘Sayonara Hashima’ in the playground.
 

‘Glover House’

Building 30 | Constructed 1916 | View map

To your right, you see building 30 – a 7 storey concrete construction and Japan's oldest of its sort, providing housing for miners and more specifically, subcontractors. It has a basement containing a shop, as well as a roof garden.

This was nicknamed ‘Glover House’ by its inhabitants, coming from the rumour that the designer of the construction was a Scottish merchant named Thomas B. Glover (1838-1911) who had strong links to Mitsubishi.

Take a walk to your left to delve inside Building 31, used for communal baths as well as featuring a post office, hairdresser and more housing.

Coal Storage Area

Buildings 16-20 | Constructed 1918 | View map

In front of you as well as a weathered and torn old bicycle, stand the towering support braces which once were an essential reason for the island being inhabited.

Coal which was chosen to be used would be carried along to a storage centre on the conveyor belt which these braces held up, before the coal ships would collect it. The coal would be collected from long, deep tunnels underneath the sea bed around Gunkanjima.

To delve a bit further into the history of Hashima's mining past, coal production had recently expanded on a nearby island named Takashima and in April 1869, a 150-foot deep coal bed was found which brought vast riches to the operation – this influenced a rush for more mining in the area, including the then-dormant Gunkanjima. This was the beginning of Hashima's historic fate.