Hashima Island, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan

In August 2006, the Ministry of Economics, Trade and Industry decided to support the World Heritage designation proposal in an attempt to promote the utilization of the Meiji-Era industrial heritage, including Hashima (Gunkanjima), as tourism resources in the Kyushu and Yamaguchi region.
On September 26, 2008, the Agency for Cultural Affairs added the “Modern Industrial Heritage Sites in Kyushu and Yamaguchi” to the tentative lists.
It was concluded that the property possesses outstanding universal value; the property clearly attests the intensive introduction of Western technology, which served as the driving force for Japan’s rapid industrialization in a dramatically brief period and its own industrial modernisation processes.
In order for the property to be designated as a World Heritage, the processes is: preparation of the nomination letter attesting the value of the property; a field investigation after the property nomination by the Japanese government to UNESCO; discuted of the proposal by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.