Hashima Island, also known as Gunkanjima (meaning "Battleship Island" for its silhouette that resembles a warship) is a 60,000-square-meter cluster of concrete ruins in the sea off Nagasaki, Japan.

It was the bustling home of thousands of coal mine workers in the 1950s and was shut down in 1974. The island has been abandoned since.

Until pop culture and, most recently, a 007 film re-discovered it.

The abandonment left the island in ruins -- empty concrete buildings and collapsed mining facilities create a spooky, disturbingly quiet atmosphere.

Not the best place to set up shop.

Unless you are the very creepy, very convincing (and rather affectionate) Bond villain Raoul Silva (played by Javier Bardem) in "Skyfall" who set up his very creepy and very convincing lair on the island.

Aside from its use as a location in the flick, the island had earlier made headlines when in 2008 a non-profit organization proposed it be designated a UNESCO World heritage site.

The South Korean government opposed the move, arguing the mining facilities employed forced Korean laborers during World War II. Despite the opposition, the proposal made it to UNESCO's tentative list.