Here, we present a report that we have actually prepared with the cooperation of the Gunkanjima Digital Museum and the Gunkanjima Concierge, which conducts Gunkanjima tours.
The Gunkanjima Digital Museum is located a 3-minute walk from the Tokiwa Pier, which is a departure and return point for Gunkanjima tours. As its name implies, it is a new type of museum where you can experience the history and current state of Gunkanjima in a digital form.
The Gunkanjima Digital Museum has plenty of content that can be experienced only there, such as the history of Gunkanjima and life at the time, recreated by projection mapping, and strolling into restricted areas using virtual reality.
One of the highlights is Japan’s first experience-based game using HoloLens, “Gansho-kun from Gunkanjima: Find the Sparkling Black Diamond.”
A participatory game that mixes real and virtual worlds and explores the museum, it enjoys great popularity with children and parents alike, as they can have fun together.
Here, we pick out and present some of the exhibits of the Gunkanjima Digital Museum.
MR HoloLens experience
Gansho-kun from Gunkanjima: Find the Sparkling Black Diamond
Participatory game content using the latest technology called MR (*1). Wearing goggles called HoloLens (*2) makes islanders living on Gunkanjima and items leap out into the real world.
You can explore Gunkanjima (inside the museum) with your own Gansho-kun (the Gunkanjima character in the center of the image above).
Because it is possible to participate with several people, it is a popular game for parents and children.
(*1) MR (Mixed Reality): Technology that fuses the real world with a virtual one that is artificially created using computer graphics
(*2) Microsoft HoloLens: MR goggles developed by Microsoft. They have Windows 10 installed and you can operate them using gestures, voice, and eye movements instead of the keyboard and mouse.
Projection mapping
The Gunkanjima Symphony
Approximately 3,000 photos are projected onto a 30-meter-long screen. You can see Gunkanjima as it looked when the islanders were there.
Also, there is “Amazing Hashima,” screened every 30 minutes, which is a masterpiece video that fuses the history and culture of Gunkanjima with digital technology. It is well worth a look.
VR
Gunkanjima VR
Experience content that lets you explore the (currently) restricted area of Gunkanjima with VR. You can see Building No. 65 and Hashima Shrine, which are not accessible on a landing tour, as if you were present on the spot.
Two types of VR are available: VR where you walk forward and VR combined with a stationary bike where you can fly in the sky.
Interactive
Panoramic World Heritage
We display World Heritage Sites including Gunkanjima using seven monitors.
You can see the latest images of Gunkanjima, linked with Google’s “Google Earth Street View,” as a panoramic video.
In fact, there are only three such machines in Japan: at Google, the University of Tokyo, and the Gunkanjima Digital Museum.
What we have presented here is just a small part; there is much more other content that allows you to experience the history and culture of Gunkanjima.
It is especially recommended to take a virtual tour before an actual Gunkanjima tour, so that you can visit the sites and know their background.
Assistance in data gathering
The Gunkanjima Digital Museum
The Gunkanjima Digital Museum
It is a new type of museum that uses the latest digital technology to convey the history and culture of Gunkanjima. By combining it with the landing tour of Gunkanjima, you can enjoy the tour even more.
During the construction of this site, we have been kindly allowed to visit the Gunkanjima Digital Museum, which has assisted us in data gathering.
This time, we were accompanied by Museum staff on the Gunkanjima tour; since we had first visited the museum, our knowledge deepened, and we were able to participate in the tour with an understanding of the sites on the island.
As soon as you enter the Gunkanjima Digital Museum, you are greeted by the “Gunkanjima Symphony,” a 30-meter-long projection mapping, spreading in front of you.
We were told by the staff that “The screening will start in five to six minutes, so be sure to watch it.” Therefore, we were kindly allowed to see the video Amazing Hashima that was about to begin.
Spectacular images of Gunkanjima shot from above were flowing before our eyes.
As we waited in the time before the screening began, we looked around at exhibits.
Behind the Gunkanjima Symphony is the 3D stroll of Gunkanjima. It is an exhibit where, by operating the controller, you can freely move the 3D Gunkanjima and can visit points of interest by moving them closer.
(I made a slight mistake in operating the controller and went farther away…)
Beside it, there is a touch panel where you can find out about interesting stories and enigmas related to Gunkanjima. It is called the “Enigmas of Gunkanjima.”
Meanwhile, it was time for the Amazing Hashima to play.
We wanted to present the contents of the video, but “there is nothing like seeing for yourself.” After all, it is best to actually see it, so we will not say more about it here.
It was 360-degree projection mapping created on the basis of the history of Gunkanjima in collaboration with digital technology. It was an impressive work that created the illusion of being inside the image (that is, inside Gunkanjima), let alone its impact.
You can see a little of it in this promotional video.
While immersing ourselves in the aftereffects of the Amazing Hashima, we were also kindly allowed to look at other exhibits.
If you think, “Huh? A Japanese-style room? ” this is an exhibit that reproduces a room belonging to people who lived on Gunkanjima.
By being able to actually get into the room, we experienced the way people lived at the time, thinking, “So is this how people lived on Gunkanjima?”
They seemed to have a higher standard of living than ordinary people did and had appliances that were expensive at the time, such as televisions, refrigerators, and loudspeakers.
(Was it because of my age that I felt somehow nostalgic?)
Going to the third floor of the museum
The Gunkanjima Digital Museum is a four-story building, but it is the third floor that has the most exhibits.
Here is the most popular item among them!
This is content that lets you have exciting experience in exploring the restricted area that cannot be reached on a landing tour, in a virtual world using the latest technology!
I was also allowed to experience it immediately.
You can choose several routes, but I went to Building No. 65 without hesitation!
(On a landing tour, you can only see it in the distance…)
Unfortunately, it was difficult to shoot a VR video, but I was able to explore Building No. 65 realistically, from the entrance to the rooftop.
In particular, I was impressed that I could see the Hashima Elementary School (the Elementary School occupied the first to fourth floor, the Hashima Junior High School, the fifth to seven floor) and the Hashima hospital from the rooftop!
What impressed me even more was that I could see a slide on the rooftop up close (there was a kindergarten on the rooftop of Building No. 65).
In fact, the staff who guided me there were former islanders from Gunkanjima.
On hearing the story, they told me that they had lived in Building No. 65, and told me various stories about how they had played baseball on its rooftop.
I was incredulous, “Eh? Baseball on the rooftop?” When I actually looked at it, it was that large a site.
There are various other exhibits on the third floor, but here is the next one I am allowed to pick out!
It is a 1/30 scale model of Building No. 30, the oldest reinforced-concrete apartment building in Japan!
It is a model with a high degree of fidelity where not only the outside appearance but also the details such as the internal structure and apartments have been reproduced.
At present, it is in an advanced state of decay, but the robustness that has kept it standing there for more than 100 years is worthy of note.
The fact that it was built many years ago in a metropolitan area is also very important in the history of architecture.
By the way, it was the Shimizu Corporation that was responsible for the construction of Building No. 30. There were also blueprints near the model.
Next, to the fourth floor, which is the top floor.
When I ascended the stairs, what leapt into my eyes…
…was the Gunkanjima quiz!
“This is a perfect opportunity to test the level of my knowledge of Gunkanjima!” So thinking, I took up the challenge.
The result was seven out of ten points. What a mediocre result! I vowed to take revenge the next time.
Actually, on this fourth floor, there was an exhibit that was a super highlight of the Gunkanjima Digital Museum! Two, in fact!
One of them is here!
With the latest monitors linked to Google Street View, you can see every corner of Gunkanjima.
The panoramic image that spread before my eyes had a very different impact from VR.
Next, the second super highlight of the Gunkanjima Digital Museum, MR HoloLens!
The real world and the virtual world are blended together by wearing goggles called HoloLens. This is experience content where the interior of the museum turns into a coalmine that you can explore and where you can play participatory games.
The popular character Gansho-kun of Gunkanjima will guide you around the museum and search for hidden items, so it is full of things worth seeing and full of challenge.
Although that was a bit of a rushed report, there are so many exhibits at the Gunkanjima Digital Museum that we cannot present them all this time.
It is also a valuable museum where you can learn about the history, culture, and present day of Gunkanjima, which has gone through various changes.
Although we recommend visiting the museum paired with a Gunkanjima tour, we do realize that you will be able to learn enough about Gunkanjima by visiting the digital museum alone and have fun.
(If by any chance you cannot go on a landing tour, you can still experience the island with VR and the panoramic monitors.)
When you go to Gunkanjima, we recommend that you drop by!
Assistance in data gathering
The Gunkanjima Digital Museum
The Gunkanjima Digital Museum
It is a new type of museum that uses the latest digital technology to convey the history and culture of Gunkanjima. It is a great attraction that lets you get a virtual experience of Gunkanjima, which is for the most part a restricted area, let alone learning about the facts and rumors of the lives of the islanders.
It is a digital museum that lets you know about Gunkanjima more than Gunkanjima itself. We recommend that you drop by when you go on a tour.
After a tour of the Gunkanjima Digital Museum, you will finally take part in a Gunkanjima tour! By landing on Gunkanjima armed with varied information and knowledge gained at the museum, I was able to enjoy the tour even more.
Here, we also report on the status of Gunkanjima tours, so please check it out!
In many cases, it is impossible to land due to sea conditions and bad weather. However, with the cooperation of the Gunkanjima Concierge, which boasts a high landing rate of 94.7% (*), we present a report on the landing tour that we participated in. We will acquaint you with all the charms of Gunkanjima, not to mention the highlights of the tour!
※Landing results from 2011 to 2018
