Posted on 06/30/2024 6:40:07 PM PDT by CottonBall
Gunkanjima Island - Nagasaki, Japan .
Once the most densely populated place in the world, this island is now a ghost town.
FEW PLACES IN THE WORLD have a history as odd, or as poignant as Gunkanjima’s.
The tiny, fortress-like island lies just off the coast of Nagasaki. The island is ringed by a seawall, covered in tightly packed buildings, and entirely abandoned - a ghost town that has been completely uninhabited for more than forty years. In the early 1900s, Gunkanjima was developed by the Mitsubishi Corporation, which believed - correctly - that the island was sitting on a rich submarine coal deposit.
For almost the next hundred years, the mine grew deeper and longer, stretching out under the seabed to harvest the coal that was powering Japan’s industrial expansion.
By 1941, the island, less than one square kilometer in area, was producing 400,000 tonnes of coal per year.
And many of those working slavishly in the undersea mine were forced laborers from Korea.
Even more remarkable than the mine was the city that had grown up around it.
To accommodate the miners, ten-story apartment complexes were built up on the tiny rock - a high-rise maze linked together by courtyards, corridors, and stairs. There were schools, restaurants, and gaming houses, all encircled by the protective seawall.
The island became known as “Midori nashi Shima,” the island without green.
Amazingly, by the mid-1950s, it housed almost six thousand people, giving it the highest population density the world has ever known. And then the coal ran out.
Mitsubishi closed the mine, everyone left, and this island city was abandoned, left to revert back to nature.
The apartments began to crumble, and for the first time, in the barren courtyards, green things started to grow. Broken glass and old newspapers blew over the streets. The sea-breeze whistled through the windows.
Now, fifty years later, the island is exactly as it was just after Mitsubishi left. A ghost town in the middle of the sea.
In 1892 at Stanford University, an 18-year-old student was struggling to pay his fees. He was an orphan, and not knowing where to turn for money, he came up with a bright idea.
He and a friend decided to host a musical concert on campus to raise money for their education. They reached out to the great pianist Ignacy J. Paderewski. His manager demanded a guaranteed fee of $2000 for the piano recital.
A deal was struck, and the boys began to work to make the concert a success. The big day has arrived. But unfortunately, they had not managed to sell enough tickets. The total collection was only $1600. Disappointed, they went to Paderewski and explained their plight. They gave him the entire $1600, plus a check for the balance $400.
They promised to honor the check at the soonest possible. “No,” said Paderewski. “This is not acceptable.” He tore up the check, returned the $1600 and told the two boys: “Here’s the $1600. Please deduct whatever expenses you have incurred. Keep the money you need for your fees. And just give me whatever is left”. The boys were surprised and thanked him profusely. It was a small act of kindness.
But it clearly marked out Paderewski as a great human being. Why should he help two people he didn’t even know? We all come across situations like these in our lives. And most of us only think “If I help them, what will happen to me?” The truly great people think, “If I don’t help them, what will happen to them?” They don’t do it expecting something in return. They do it because they feel it’s the right thing to do.
Paderewski later went on to become the Prime Minister of Poland. He was a great leader, but unfortunately when the World War began, Poland was ravaged. There were more than 1.5 million people starving in his country, and no money to feed them.
Paderewski didn’t know where to turn for help. He reached out to the US Food and Relief Administration for help. He heard there was a man called Herbert Hoover — who later went on to become the US President.
Hoover agreed to help and quickly shipped tons of food grains to feed the starving Polish people. The calamity was averted. Paderewski was relieved. He decided to go across to meet Hoover and personally thank him. When Paderewski began to thank Hoover for his noble gesture, Hoover quickly interjected and said, “You shouldn’t be thanking me Mr. Prime Minister. You may not remember this, but several years ago, you helped two young students go through college. I was one of them.”
Hon You’re to be the photographer ! And archivist!
😊♥️😊
Yes!!!
Yes!!!
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“Biden is a pathological liar.”
Good evening Judy. I was laughing my head off listening to Bidens interview the other night with Stephi when he kept shouting that Trump was a pathological liar.
We are having a heat wave for the next week over 100 degrees. Going to get to 110 by Tues. 111 on Thur. then slowly back down into the 100’s. I am just hybernating in the house doing nothing but watching TV.
il Donaldo Trumpo @PapiTrumpo · Jul 5 THE STORM IS COMING!!!/a>
Yes, I went by that island in 91, strange looking place, like a science fiction movie. I think a James Bond film used it once. Slave like labor for sure.
Hi Spunky!
Wow - that’s some heat. Glad you’re staying indoors! My niece called me from Las Vegas tonight and she’s got 118 degrees. She’s making a trip up to Canada shortly because she can’t take any more of it! She says there’s not a soul on the streets and I believe her.
That interview was so ridiculous. Did you hear that stupid old criminal say something about nobody drawing the crowds he can draw?! I near fell off my chair lolo. Even lefty Steppy had to call him out on that absurdity.
Cotton, good to see the new thread and the lovely desserts you are serving, but coffee close to bedtime? It is no wonder a person can’t sleep.
Hi Dolly, thanks for doing the birthdays. I am just taking a break from TV binging as the weather is to hot to do anything else.
Thanks for the ping to this Dolly. I didn’t know about this one. The one I had been following the boy is older and if I recall the father lost his case. The boy is being given hormone therapy.
Sad case.
Hey there girl friend! I’m still up ( despite trying to sleep! Good grief is there a clue to turning off your brain?)
There are so many great and interesting things on line. It’s hard to stop
Hey! How is the water color artistry going. Can you share a few pix
Some know I WAS a jewelry designer.. ended with many other things in my life with my stolen van n all my necessary ingredients gone
So I really am serious in my support and interest in your latest artistic endeavor
Egads
If there’s not Already enough terribly shit-dip crap to drive us crazy. What the heck is this?
Blue Beam
Sigh
>>> Hi Dolly, thanks for doing the birthdays.
Oh sweet Spunky . I’m never able to do what you did ! Holy cow your creative genius/humor/posts
I’m embarrassed by what I can do
If you ever want to kick in and be my buddy and add “whatever ” … ah too sweet
Oh Norsky!! You were there!
My now n future travels are via internet. To see someone who has actually been to one of my draws — well happy dance
I haven’t been doing any watercolor painting. I had been going through Catarack surgery. I am not real happy with having had it done. My eyes are doing funny things now. The light is too bright and I am having floaters now. My eye doctor says they have healed real well but because of my astigmatism I will do better with glasses which I need for reading anyway. So I am waiting for a day when my youngest daughter can take me to Costco to get a pair. My eyedoctor’s office wants a fortune for glasses so I never get them there.
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