Remnants of 'black diamond mine' tell history of moderniza.

Remnants of 'black diamond mine' tell history of modernization Tetsuo Ukai Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer Yomiuri It looks like a grave marker in the sea. There is no sign of life here, except for the occasional flock of birds that circle the island. Hashima island is nicknamed Gunkanjima (battleship island) because, from a distance, it resembles a battleship. Around the time of the decisive battle in the Sea of Japan during the 1904-5 Russo-Japan War, when the commander in chief of the Japanese fleet told his troops that "This battle decides the destiny of the (Japanese) empire," the island began full-scale production of coal, which at the time was known as "black diamonds." Coal production on the island. located in Takashimacho, Nagasaki, largely contributed to the nation's prewar modernization and economic reconstruction after the end of World War II. But a quarter century has passed since the Hashima coal mine closed and the island was abandoned. Cliffs overlooking the sea have been worn down by waves, the high-rise apartment buildings have deteriorated, and the island has become a no-man's land. Old photographs I …