長崎県端島(通称、軍艦島)は、かつて炭鉱として栄えたが、1974年に閉山後、無人島となった。
当時のまま残る建物の朽ちた風景が、一種幻想的な世界と化し、最近はクルージングで上陸ができるようになって話題をよんでいる。本書はその廃虚の美をとらえた写真集である。

Hashima is a small island located off the extreme southwest coast of Japan, about ten miles from Nagasaki. Its dark warship-like silhouette earned it the nickname of Gunkanjima ("battleship island"). During the wave of industrialisation in the nineteenth century, a coal seam was discovered on the island and the Mitsubishi corporation opened a mine there. Workers settled on the island and the population increased, the small mining town quickly becoming a modern and autonomous settlement. During the 1950s, Gunkanjima became one of the most densely populated places in the world with over 5,000 inhabitants. But after an accident and the restructuring of the Mitsubishi mining project, the mine closed in January 1974. The last inhabitants deserted the island, the connection by boat was suspended, and since then Gunkanjima has become a ghost town.