Transformation of Gunkanjima (Battleship Island): from a coalmine island to a modern industrial heritage tourism site in Japan. Issue 2 (15th March 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hashimoto, Atsuko; Telfer, David J.
• Is Part Of: Journal of heritage tourism. Volume 12:Issue 2(2017)
• Page Start: 107
• Page End: 124
• Publication Date: 2017-03-15
• Subjects: Transformation -- industrial heritage -- World Heritage Site -- coal-mining island -- Gunkanjima -- Japan; Heritage tourism -- Periodicals; Heritage tourism -- Sociological aspects -- Periodicals; 306.4819
• DOI: 10.1080/1743873X.2016.1151884
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1743-873X

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Gunkanjima Island (Battleship Island) is an abandoned coalmine and community off the coast of Nagasaki, Japan. At its peak, the island was fuelling the industrialisation of modern Japan, home to a community of over 5000 residents with one of the highest population densities in the world and the site of early modern concrete high-rise buildings. With the shift to oil, the island soon became abandoned going into decay. A recent rise in media attention and the inclusion as a 2015 UNESCO World Heritage Site has generated interest in industrial heritage tourism on the island. This paper explores the rise and fall of the island as a coalmine and the transition to an industrial heritage tourism site. A framework is presented illustrating the transformation of industrial sites into industrial heritage tourist attractions.