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Paper short abstract:

This presentation reveals how a place is experienced and decoded and the specific set of persons responsible for this viewpoint. This is based on the case of Gunkanjima ― located in the Nagasaki prefecture, with its formal name Hashima ― that was declared a World Cultural Heritage Site in 2015.

Paper long abstract:

This presentation reveals how a place is experienced and decoded and the specific set of persons responsible for this viewpoint. This is based on the case of Gunkanjima ― located in the Nagasaki prefecture in Kyushu, with its formal name Hashima ― that was declared a World Cultural Heritage Site in 2015. Despite a diversity of experiencing and decodings from different viewpoints, it is a fact that a certain experience and deciphering of a place is what becomes widely accepted by society. This presentation looks at what type of experiences and decodings of a place and by whom becomes established in society, and the problems underlying this process.

Gunkanjima was once a well-known coal-mining region and a heavily populated island, but it became an uninhabited island when the mines closed down in 1974. After that, from 1980s to 2000s, with young Japanese showing a growing interest in ruins, Gunkanjima drew attention as a place of ruins. Young people started to explore the island as a site of ruins and began uploading the photographs taken from there, along with their comments, on websites. Furthermore, from the early 2000s, a former resident began a preservation activity in Gunkanjima after visiting his homeland for the first time in several decades. His actions involved the local government and architects, which then bore fruit in the form of the place being declared a World Cultural Heritage Site. In my presentation, I will demonstrate specific narratives about Gunkanjima since 1974 and their receptiveness within the society, analyzing related articles in newspapers or magazines, texts and visual images in guidebooks, photo collections or websites on ruins, and books by former residents.