by Low Lai Chow in Cool Travel on Wednesday 5 December 2012

Remember the deserted island seized by Javier Bardem’s deranged Bond villain in Skyfall? That’s a real place in Japan. Located 15km off the coast of Nagasaki, Hashima island (also known as Gakuranman) used to host a flourishing mining town, but was subsequently abandoned by its inhabitants in the 70s when Japan’s reliance on coal dwindled.