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BATTLE ROYALE II locations |
Just as in the first
Battle Royale, the
island on which Battle Royale II takes place is fictional: "Senkanjima"
("battleship island") is actually a composite of several
different locations where shooting took place. A map of Senkanjima can
be found at my auxiliary site, the BR
Depot.
The two island locations used for Senkanjima are islands near the Nishi-Sonogi-Gun
peninsula in Nagasaki. Both are known for having ruins of rather recently-built
(within the past century) buildings, a result of the rapid boom and sudden
decline in the use of coal in Japanese industry.
A lot of the more important scenes, including what some are calling the "Normandy Landing" in reference to the scene in Saving Private Ryan (and the real-life event that it's based on) that BRII pays homage to, were shot on location on the Nishi-Sonogi-Gun Peninsula in Nagasaki Prefecture. Fans of Fukasaku visited the location and took pictures, which are hosted on the Japanese fansite Bloody Race: Link to these pages here, here, here, here, here, and here.
Wild Seven's "fortress" is actually the ruins of an apartment complex that was built on the island in the late 1910's-early 1920's to house the people who worked on the coal mine on the island. The country became less reliant on coal and more dependent on petroleum the mines closed down, and parts of the island became a ghost town. Nowadays, the island is seen as a tourist spot, with RV parks and recreational attractions on the island.
GUNKANJIMA
Much smaller than Sakitojima, in spirit, Gunkanjima is more similar
to Wild Seven's stronghold. Gunkanjima, "Warship Island," inspired
the name of "Senkanjima" ("Battleship Island")
the fictional isle on which BRII takes place.
For a great
Japanese-language presentation about Gunkanjima (with some excellent images)
check out http://www.gunkanjima.com.
Gunkanjima as seen
from Nomozaki
Originally
(and still fondly referred to by some people) as Hashima, the island was
the site of an undersea coal mining operation that began on the tiny reef
in the 1880's. To house the families of the people who worked in the mines
and the processing plants, the first metal-concrete high rise apartments
in Japan were erected on the island in 1916. For a time, the island--which
measures only 175 yards in width and 525 yards long--had 5,000 inhabitants,
making it the most densely-populated region of land in Japan.
During World War II, an American submarine mistook the island (because
of its size and shape and the manmade structures upon it) for a Japanese
battleship and attacked it with torpedoes. Hence the island's nickname.
In 1974, the mines closed down, and the government took over ownership
of the island, the place was abandoned, and the buildings fell into ruin.
To this date, the island is off-limits to the public, but that hasn't
deterred a few adventurous souls from sneaking onto the island, leaving
behind graffiti, trash, and other traces of life on the island in recent
years.
A nighttime bonfire scene taking place in Senkanjima was shot by the cliffs near this town.
The same peninsula used for the first Battle Royale is used as the launching point for the students' watercraft on their way to invading Senkanjima.
The site of sports facilities and recreational parks was used as Shikanotoride's athletic fields where the students engage in their pre-island activities.
While a small crew would later fly to Afghanistan to film some picturesque establishing shots, scenes that take place in the Middle East were actually shot in Japan with the help of several children of Middle Easterners who live in Japan.
Images are copyrighted by their respective owners.