Hashima Island

I've always been a great James Bond fan. Even before they started making the movies back in 1962

 (Dr. No) I'd read all the James Bond books that Ian Fleming wrote.

Most recently they have progressed from the suave James Bond (Sean Connery and Roger Moore) to more of the action hero (Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig) movie. There were a couple other James Bonds, but to me and this is just my personal opinion, weren't James Bond material.

In the last movie, Skyfall, I was intrigued by the island where James Bond was taken and met with Raoul Silva (Javier Bardem). I never found out where it was until I ran across something on MSN about "weird" places and there it was.

Hashima Island is an old coal mining facility off Japan. At one time it was the most densely populated places in the world. I thought it was some nuclear devastated place, but I guess they wouldn't make a movie in a place like that.       

Hashima Island

If you saw Skyfall, you'll remember this plaza as the big shootout place.

A view of the "plaza"

And if you saw the movie, how could you forget this guy?

Javier Bardem

The island was abandoned in 1974 when coal lost it's demand. If you want to read more, here is the link to Wikipedia: Hashima Island

So, if you haven't seen Skyfall, don't until you see Casino Royale because there is a link between Bond losing Vesper Lynd (Eva Green, she alone is worth watching Casino Royale) and finding those who killed her in Quantum of Solice. Then watch Skyfall. It's like all James Bond movies, you need to watch them in order.

Enjoy.