Watch Google’s StreetView Guy Walking Around Japan’s Creepily Deserted ‘Battleship Island’ (VIDEO)

Japan’s notoriously creepy Battleship Island – actually called Hashima Island – has been deserted since the mid-1970s when its coal mining operations were shut down and the inhabitants no longer needed to stay there. At its peak, the tiny island had nearly 5,300 residents, all involved in coal mining, who made it one of the most densely populated places on earth. Now it’s uninhabited, crumbling, ghostly.

But the Google StreetView team reckons the island is worth seeing, and despatched a multi-camera equipped Googler to walk the island. Google has even made a video (see below) showing how Battleship Island was snapped for StreetView.

If you want to see a history of the island, this 15-minute documentary on Vimeo is worth watching. Or just head straight to street-level on Google Maps.

Here’s Google’s video:

(Hat-tip to NYT’s @HirokoTabuchi for spotting this)