Ruinous Riches: Unbelievably Costly Abandoned Constructions

12. Gunkanjima Island, Nagasaki, Japan

Location: Japan's Nagasaki Year of Abandonment: 1974 Visitation fee: $65. Off the coast of Japan, there lies an abandoned mining complex called Gunkanjima Island, sometimes referred to as Hashima Island. The island's overgrown concrete and industrial structures, together with the frightening "Stairway to Hell," are open for exploration by tourists. Hashima Island was used for part of the filming of the James Bond film Skyfall.

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Japan's Gunkanjima Island (@atlasobscura/Pinterest) 5,000 people used to live at Hashima/Gunkanjima on just sixteen acres of land, making it an extremely densely populated area at one point. The island was abandoned and turned into a desolate wasteland filled with concrete in 1974 after its coal sources were exhausted.