 |
| From The Silken Backpack |
Our first impression of the island was simple, we thought it was quiet, almost to the point of "too quiet". We walked a bit off the port and came upon the Fureai Camping Ground. It was an absolute haven for us. The camping ground we found in Kagoshima was ok, but that was just an expanse of land where we could "legitimately" set camp. But this camping ground was modern in comparison. There was a building with showers and vending machines inside and outside a row of neatly constructed tents made of sturdy vinyl awaited eager campers. Since we had our own tent, we ended up just paying 600 yen per night for the management and the rental fee. Each tent cost about 1,500 per nights rental.
 |
| From The Silken Backpack |
The camping ground was annexed to the Umibouz in Takashima. This is a man-made beach that stretched for just about a kilometer. Breakwaters surrounded the beach in a crescent shape, barring it from the open sea beyond. It had cream colored sand of roughly ground shells and the water was pretty clear. A couple of floating platforms bounced off in the distance and some swimmers were lying down on them to soak up the sun. Beach umbrellas and plastic lounge chairs lined the boardwalk that is separated from the beach itself by several wide steps of brick. It strangely resembled a beach facility one would find at the back of a beach resort, unnatural but required for commercial purposes.
 |
| From The Silken Backpack |
We set camp at the end of the row of tents, right underneath a tree. It was real nice, a lovely spot for a tent, a stone's throw away from the beach. It did seem as if Asen has found the vacation he was looking for. We didn't waste any time, we went straight for the beach, lounged around and assumed the role of the lazy and self-indulgent travelers.
The next day we decided to explore the island a little bit, we rented some bikes and literally covered the whole island on bicycle. As we went up and down the hills, veered off the main highways to go through the little streets, I started to get a bit worried. We passed by whole developments, houses, buildings, stores and parks, but there was no one there and I mean NO ONE. The center of the island was completely deserted. If all we found were acres upon acres of land and forest, it wouldn't have been so creepy, but there were buildings and facilities meant for residents but there was nobody. It was a real ghost town.
 |
| From The Silken Backpack |
What we didn't know at this time was that Takashima Island was actually amongst the 3 Ghost Islands of Southern Kyushu. These islands were Takashima, Hashima and Sakito (Hashima, also known as Battleship Island, is still uninhabited although a small portion of it was re-opened to the public on April 22, 2009 after 20 years of closure). They were called Ghost Islands because it was said that anyone who set foot on them are unlikely to come back alive.
The history of these islands go back to the early 1900s when Korea was forcefully annexed to Japan. During this time coal was the main source of fuel and these 3 islands were chock-full of them. A great number of Koreans, around 10,000 in total, were conscripted to work the coal mines and were subjected to harsh labor, living conditions and the occassional (or frequent, who knows?) beatings, a number of them died from the work and from malnutrion. It is said that even the most experienced coalminers who have worked in the largest coalfields in Kyushu, in the Chikuho area, were afraid of going to the Ghost Islands.
The Mitsubishi Corporation took over the management of the coal mines of the Ghost Islands and due to the burgeoning importance of the islands' coal mines, housing developments were built to accommodate the expected increase in population in the islands especially during the latter part of the war. However, in the 1960s petroleum overtook coal and one by one the coal mines closed down, and the only industry that supported the islands was obliterated. The nearby Hashima Island which was almost completely covered in concrete apartment blocks closed down its mining operation in 1974 and all residents left the island until all that was left was the derelict buildings and a silence that is broken only by the fishermen that can only come as close as the seawalls. Up until the date it re-opened to the public in 2009, only one recorded landing in August 2005 was made and only journalists were allowed on Hashima Island.
Takashima Island, on the other hand, became the focal-point of a tourism revival plan. Hotels, golf courses and other facilities (including the Umibouzu) were built on the island to lure holiday makers. But the plan failed miserably and soon, the tourism facilities closed down and fell into disrepair. Up to this day, these 3 islands still serves as a painful reminder to the Koreans of what they had to suffer under the hands of the Japan Empire.
 |
| From The Silken Backpack |
When we got back to the main high way, we came upon a really pretty windmill atop a hill and we stopped by here to take pictures. Here we got views of the deserted apartment buildings and Hashima Island. Going down we came upon piles of recyclable waste that was just interesting to us so of course, a couple of photos were taken. We passed by the small marina for the fishing boats, once more, it was pretty deserted, save for a couple of old men working their nets. We soon came upon the Tobishima Fishing Park, which was basically a bridge connecting the main island to a small, uninhabited island that didn't look interesting at all. It was supposed to be packed with tourists during the summer, but it was already August when we were there, the height of summer, but there was no one in sight... creepy.
 |
| From The Silken Backpack |
Off the Tobishima Fishing Park was Umibozou so were right back where we started. It was really astonishing, how small the island was, so we were once again faced with no other activity aside from lounging, swimming, eating and getting tanned. We spent the whole day in leisure and in the evening we went to the public bath house (where I saw the sorriest looking naked old lady with skin hanging off her bones like melting wax to a candle) and barbequed the produce we bought from a store during our biking expedition for dinner.
 |
| From The Silken Backpack |
The next day we decided to go back to Nagasaki and from Nagasaki we took the train back to Fukuoka and from Fukuoka boarded the overnight train back to Osaka. It was only 2 days from then before we would go to the airport, get on 2 different planes, one bound for Paris, another for Manila, and say good bye to a fantastic year of learning, adventures and friendships. And although I could feel the sadness creeping up on me like a thief in the night, I could only be grateful for a week of ridiculous fun that is nothing, if not the best ending to a story that I could have ever and indeed, never dared hope for.
 |
| From The Silken Backpack |
On the way back
No comments:
Post a Comment