Buildings of Hashima

Housing for Mitsubishi employees (as distinct from miners). Located in the residential zone with better accommodations reflecting the company hierarchy.

Dedicated housing for mine management, reflecting the strict hierarchical structure of the mining operation.

Dormitory accommodation for unmarried company employees, with shared facilities and communal living arrangements.

Completed 1941, this building pioneered the cantilever (projecting balcony) design later adopted in Building 65. Company housing for employees.

A complex of buildings housing miners and day laborers. Historical photographs show these under construction with workers visible.

Municipal housing for teachers and school staff, reflecting the island's investment in education for the children of workers.

Community center building that also contained residential units. Kinoshita-san (born 1954) lived here briefly as an infant when his father worked as a projectionist.

Training facilities and dormitories for new miners. Building 66 (Keimei Hostel) for trainees, Building 67 for single adult workers.

Building 68 served as the isolation ward, Building 69 as the main hospital building. Part of Takashima Mining Company's Hashima Hospital complex.

Building 70: The school building (7th floor added with steel frame in 1961). Building 71: School gymnasium. The original wooden school was destroyed by fire during RC reconstruction.

One of Hashima's three public bathhouses (sentō). Essential community facilities where miners washed away coal dust after shifts. Children typically bathed every 3 days; adults less frequently.

Buddhist temple combined with company housing. Served the spiritual needs of the community alongside the Shinto shrine at the island's peak.

Company store/commissary combined with miners' housing. Essential retail facilities in a community entirely dependent on supplies brought by ship.

Entertainment facilities within a miners' housing building. Shift work meant workers had leisure time at all hours, supporting active entertainment venues.

Company housing that also contained hospitality businesses: snack pub Hakusuien and Ryokan Seifusō. Served both residents and occasional visitors.

Wooden structure (unusual on the concrete island) that served as housing and kitchen for subcontractor workers. The Kinoshita family lived here briefly in 1959.

The surface facilities of the colliery occupied the flat southwestern part of the island—approximately 40% of habitable space. These buildings housed the machinery and infrastructure supporting the undersea mine.

Winding room for the No. 2 Pit shaft, housing the machinery that raised and lowered the mining cage carrying workers to and from the undersea tunnels.

Entrance to the No. 2 Pit tunnel system. The mine extended approximately 1 kilometer below the island and several square kilometers under the seabed.

Coal sorting machinery for the No. 2 Pit, where coal was graded and processed before loading onto ships.

Loading cranes (Q), dolphin pier (R), and loading pier (S) facilitated the export of coal and import of supplies—the island's lifeline to the outside world.

Coal conveyor systems and storage piles. The belt conveyor (ベルトコンベアー) moved coal from processing to loading facilities.

Swimming pool for residents. Children swam here and in the sea during summer months—one of the few recreation options on the densely built island.

Tennis court—a remarkable amenity given the extreme space constraints of the island.

Multi-purpose sports area serving as both school playground and community recreation space. Site of sumo matches during festivals. Children also played baseball on rooftops.