Google Street View Takes On Abandoned Island From James Bond Film ‘Skyfall’

That cool, creepy abandoned island fortress from the latest James Bond movie “Skyfall”? That wasn’t a movie set. It’s a real place called Battleship Island, and it’s located off the coast of Nagasaki Prefecture in Japan. And Google sent a couple of employees (who we presume have nerves of steel) to the uninhabited island to map it for Google Maps Street View.

Battleship Island (real name: “Hashima”) was once a busy coal mining facility and housed some 5,000 people. When the coal mining industry struggled in the 1970s, the island was abandoned, only opening up certain areas to tourists in 2009.

Battleship Island
Battleship Island

Now you can see into many of the hidden-away places on the island, because that Googler strapped on the Google Trekker backpack and hiked even parts of the island that tourists don’t see, including inside buildings.

Battleship Island
(Click to enlarge)

It’s creepy, and beautiful, and terrifying, and is probably a metaphor for something, and you can click and scroll all over it. (Sorry about giving you something to waste your entire afternoon on.)