Hashima (Gunkanjima) - Mar 18

Another Japanese breakfast at the ryokan. Today it is raining, so it was rain jackets and brollies for our tour. We took a "cruise" to the island of Hashima. It was a barren shelf of rock out in the ocean when coal was first discovered there in 1810, in 1869 mining began there and in 1890 full-scale seabed coal mining operations began when acquired by Mitsubishi Corporation. In 1916 they started building concrete apartments on the island to accommodate the people living there. They built schools, a hospital, shops, cinemas and pachinko parlours on the rock (which they kept enlarging). At its peak the island's population density was 5 times that of Tokyo - 5300 living on a space 480m by 160 m. With it's surrounding sea wall and multi-story concrete apartments it resembled a large battleship, and became known as Gunkanjima Island - Battleship Island. All very cool and I really would have liked to see it, but it was rainy and the boat was crowded.

I will finish with a photo of the actual view through the plastic window, and another one the limber guide managed to take out the back of the boat. The boat was meant to dock, but the sea was too rough so we just circled the island and then went back. The circling of the island was the downfall of many passengers and the crew was busy handing out barf bags. Luckily our family has iron stomachs. This afternoon is a free afternoon, so we had lunch at the mall (katsu) followed by a visit to Starbucks. Dave is now napping on the floor (he put a futon down first). Tonight we have one more kaisiki dinner (formal Japanese dining) at our ryokan.