Google Adds Hashima Island, Javier Bardem's 'Skyfall' Lair, To Google Street View

'Skyfall' Dead Island Added To Google Street View

Fresh from adding Street View images of a building that looks like the lair of a super-villain, Google has now added an actual* master criminal's stronghold to its mapping service.

Hashima Island - a small abandoned rock off the coast of Japan - was recently made famous around the world as the inspiration for the movie Skyfall.

In the film, Javier Bardem's evil villain uses an eerie, forgotten city-island based on Hashima as a base for his attempts to plot his way to victory, (and sort-of flirt with James Bond).

The crumbling town was too fragile to film on for real, and in the film was located near Macau, but using digital graphics and a set at Pinewood Studios the Skyfall team managed to recreate it pretty convincingly.

But the island also has an interesting real-life history. Also known as Battleship Island, it was first established as a coal mining facility in the nineteenth century and once housed 5,000 people. It was later used as a labour camp during World War 2. The last resident left after the mining operation was abandoned in 1974. In 2009 it reopened for tourists, but now you can visit the rock yourself thanks to Google's interactive maps.

Google detailed how it took the Street View images in a video, which you can see above.

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