A concrete island with tumble-down houses and not a single tree or plant around. The gloomiest place on Earth you’ve ever seen, for sure. Can it be real? In fact, it is. Welcome to Hashima!

This island 9 miles from Nagasaki is one of many hundreds of uninhabited islands in the prefecture. Unlike others, which are green and covered with forests, Hashima looks like bare rocks with no plants on them. If you look closer you’ll see that the rocks are actually empty high-risers standing on manmade coastal banks.

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