Chris Luckhardt's photostream  

Pictured is the "invisible glass apple" I brought back from Japan's abandoned Hashima Island. Sometimes referred to as the "Mirage Apple", it was "found" by our guide and given to me as a souvenir from the island. Legend has it that "a man who can get the apple will be able to become the king of the world".

I visited Japan in November 2011 for the exclusive purpose of urban exploration on Hashima Island. The island, completely abandoned since 1974, sits in the southwest coast of Japan in the East China Sea. Only a few people have been able to access the island for the purposes of urban exploration photography. We were fortunate to be the only people to ever get 8 hours of uninterrupted access to the island.

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"Hashima Island, commonly called Gunkanjima or Gunkanshima (軍艦島; meaning Battleship Island), is one among 505 uninhabited islands in the Nagasaki Prefecture about 15 kilometers from Nagasaki itself.

The island was populated from 1887 to 1974 as a coal mining facility. The island's most notable features are the abandoned concrete buildings and the sea wall surrounding it." ~ Wikipedia

A desktop calendar for February 2012. The photo was taken at the abandoned Farwell Building in Detroit.\

The original photo is here.

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The site of the first atomic bombing in Hiroshima, Japan.

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A recreation of the first atomic bombing's aftermath in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial.

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The first atomic bomb detonated 600 meters above Hiroshima. The red ball simulates the location of the detonation.

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