A good friend and I were travelling Japan when we came to learn about an abandoned island on the west coast of southern Japan - near Nagasaki where we were heading. It was called Ikeshima Island (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikeshima). Being the intrepid and adventurous travelers we are, we decided to go try visit and see what it was all about.
We rented a car in Nagasaki and headed West out of the city and into the mountains in search of ocean. It was beautiful to say the least. Of-course even in the middle of nowhere, you still have access to vending machines serving an assortment of drinks.
An hours drive west, we found the ferry terminal that would have the ferry taking us to the island. Spoken english is very minimal and you will need to rely on Google translate or similar. You also don't want to get it wrong because there are multiple ferries heading to multiple places.
It was quite eerie, as it had the trademark Japanese streets, power, water, etc, but absolutely nobody around. A lot of the homes also had vehicles and belongings, but again, nobody except us. Anyway you get the point - so let the other photos speak for themselves.
Once on the ferry, you'll notice there isn't anyone else on it - makes sense given there isn't exactly a lot of demand to commute back and forth between an abandoned island. We never figured out why the ferry service existed in the first place, but assume it's some form of keeping to tradition.
When you arrive at the island, soviet-style apartment buildings line the waterfront, all looking a bit empty
Luckily, as soon as you get off the ferry, a helpful map shows you the local attractions - self-guided to be clear.
It was very, very abandoned
It was quite eerie, as it had the trademark Japanese streets, power, water, etc, but absolutely nobody around. A lot of the homes also had vehicles and belongings, but again, nobody except us. Anyway you get the point - so let the other photos speak for themselves.