All language subtitles for Abandoned.Engineering.S06E10.Bunker.Nation.1080p.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-squalor_track3_[eng]

Narrator: A coastal defence

now exposed by vanishing
Atlantic sand dunes.

It might seem like the
Americans were being paranoid,

I mean, who's going to attack
the us on the Delaware coast,

the Jersey shore?

But, in fact, america
was attacked.

The stranded remains of a town
that once appeared to have it all.

They must have felt like they
had found a garden of Eden,

an oasis in this dry zone.

But someone with more
authority wanted it for themselves.

Ruins on a tranquil Japanese bay

with a deadly
technology at their heart.

Were they doing something secret?
Were they doing something dangerous?

There are stories
here in these buildings.

And a network of abandoned
structures that cover an entire country.

It looks as though this land
has been carpet-bombed

with these
mysterious-looking domes.

You find them in the
roadside, in churchyards,

in people's gardens.

You have to wonder who or what

were they protecting
themselves from?

Decaying relics...

..Ruins of lost worlds.

Forged through years of toil,

now haunted by the past,

their secrets waiting
to be revealed.

Albania,

a country on the fringe
of modern-day Europe,

a land covered

in peculiar
mushroom-shaped structures.

There are these weird
little constructions

and they're all over the place,

there's no pattern to it,
there's no restriction to them.

It is a bizarre situation
where you have every village

and every field almost is
covered with these things.

They're carved
into mountainsides

and spread along the
coast looking out to sea.

They're everywhere,
like, I mean, everywhere.

These tiny structures
appear to be fortified.

The sheer volume
and positioning of them

tells you that a huge
force or population

was expected to mobilise
and defend this land.

Every now and again you
come across a bigger structure,

one with more rooms,
more defensive capability,

somehow there must be a system,

there must be a way
that everything is linked.

Albania is riddled
with these places.

But a post-apocalyptic
landscape at the heart of this nation

suggests the worst-case
scenario may have came to pass.

A vast complex covering an area

that goes as far as
the eyes can see.

All that remains is
just the ghost town.

This place wouldn't
look out of sorts

in the dystopian world of
'mad Max' or 'blade runner'.

So what happened behind
the heavy iron curtain

that once shrouded Albania?

Elton caushi, a local
historian and tour guide

grew up here.

These structures made
unusual playgrounds.

You could find them everywhere,

it was great to play
outside actually.

But there was a
serious side to them.

This is what we call
mushroom bunkers.

Hundreds of thousands of these
were build all around the country,

mainly focusing
on the coastal areas

since d-day style of attack
was expected to come this way.

Throughout the 1970s

the Albanian population
was ready to mobilise

at a moment's notice

and use the mushroom
bunkers to defend the nation

against the most
terrifying attacks.

There was this constant
genuine fear of the attack

and I do remember the
trainings that they used to give us,

the adults throwing chlorine
all around the neighbourhood.

People closing off
the lights in the home

and families being
forced into some sort of

military action

and finding shelter in the
neighbourhoods bunker

where we were
supposed to survive

in the case of an eventual
bacteriological attack.

The Albanian fear of invasion

dates back to the
end of world war ii.

In 1945, much of
Europe lay in ashes,

torn apart by six
years of total war.

Albania had suffered
occupation by both fascist Italy

and Nazi Germany.

In many ways,

the crushing defeats and
humiliation in world war ii

profoundly influenced the
direction the country would take

in the post-war era.

Out of the fight
for independence,

one man emerged as
the country's dictator,

enver hoxha.

Despite being supported by British
and American intelligence services

during the war,

hoxha was a staunch communist

and quickly aligned
himself with the Soviet union.

Hoxha idealised
Joseph Stalin, in fact,

the Albanian communists
were the only communist groups

that openly supported
Stalin after his fall from grace.

Hoxha's dogmatic
attachment to Stalin

meant that when the
Soviet dictator died in 1953

he severed ties with his successor,
the more pragmatic nikita khrushchev.

Khrushchev wanted to
lighten the heavy effects

of the Stalin reign

and hoxha of
Albania thought that

this was a betraying
the true communist ideal.

Hoxha could now add the
ussr to his long list of enemies.

In his increasing isolation,
hoxha's fear of invasion mounted

and his paranoia pushed him

to initiate his
bunkerisation programme.

The bunkerisation of Albania
was built on this siege mentality.

The idea that enemies
are everywhere,

ready to strike at any time.

There could be as many as
700,000 bunkers in Albania,

one for every four people

and they weren't all mushrooms.

Hoxha reserved the
biggest for himself

and it's found beneath
the capital, Tirana.

Now we are in a completely
different kind of bunker,

this monster going five
floors under the ground.

Being equipped with 106 rooms

was supposed to protect hoxha
and the communist leaders.

And that included also the
whole directors of the army.

They needed to be secured here

against any nuclear, chemical

or bacteriological attack.

It was a monumental undertaking

and the tiny Albanian
nation wasn't able to complete

hoxha's maniacal
bunkerisation programme alone.

Every now and again

on some of the instruments
deep in these bunkers,

you catch a glimpse of a clue

that tells you who
was behind all this.

Hoxha had got into bed
with a dangerous ally.

Hoxha was a true
ideologue and a true believer

and so he turned to a
pure form of communism

which they saw in mao's China.

Relations with other
eastern bloc nations

were increasingly strained...

..And hoxha's alliance with
China was not well received.

During the 1970s, Albania
stepped up bunker production

to stave off the perceived
threat of invasion.

Hoxha had convinced his nation

that neighbours such as
Italy, Greece or yugoslavia

as well as nuclear
powers such as america

and the Soviet union were
on the brink of attacking them.

Their only ally, China,
poured industrial resources

into the small country.

At its core, was this,

the metallurgical factory
complex at elbasan.

Framed by these beautiful
mountains in the background

you have a man-made
environmental disaster zone.

There's chimneys,
there's factories,

there's buildings in all sorts
of different states of repair.

More than 500 of
these giant buildings

were constructed.

Accompanied by
all the infrastructure

a complex of this
scale would require.

Giant moulds allowed
prefabricated bunker parts

to be fitted together
like a Jigsaw.

You can barely imagine the
amount of noise and smoke

that must have
emanated from this place.

The metal and concrete
factories in the industrial zone

sped up the
production of bunkers

which were rolled
out across the nation.

But at the same time,
the housing was neglected,

the rest of the infrastructure in
the country was falling behind,

all at the expense of the
bunkerisation programme.

Domestic issues were soon
exacerbated by international development,

a pivotal moment in
sino-American relations

threatened hoxha's rigid
allegiance to communist doctrine.

First kissinger,
then president Nixon

were allowed to visit China,
that was all too much for hoxha,

and to him,

a sign of China's new
revisionist direction.

Chairman mao died in 1976

and thawing relations
culminated with the Chinese

breaking off trade with
Albania two years later.

First, it was the Soviets,
then the Chinese,

he was falling out with
the very powerhouses

that were bankrolling Albania.

He practically
transformed Albania

into what North Korea
stands today to the world.

This was the most
isolated country in Europe.

After hoxha's death in
1985, the regime clung on

but the people were getting
wind of communist collapse

across Eastern Europe.

First, you had hunger
strikes by students,

then the people Rose
up and took to the streets,

they'd had enough.

Albania's marxist-leninist
government fell in 1991.

Leaving behind
this bizarre legacy:

Hundreds of thousands
of bunkers left to decay.

Today, the many bunkers
are being repurposed.

Albania is trying
to build this future

and image as a
tourism destination,

and is doing quite a good job.

Eventually, they will
host capitalist visitors

and there will be
no better punishment

for the dictatorship.

And Albania is now
looking outwards

as a candidate to join
the European Union.

Albania for sure
is very enthusiastic

about integrating the eu,

this is the big brother that
we've probably been dreaming

and it's for us like going
back home somehow,

being a member of the
big European family is, like,

really finding out the parents
which we lost many centuries ago.

On america's eastern
seaboard in Delaware,

the drifting sand
dunes reveal a collection

of threatening structures.

The east coast of the us is
famous for beautiful beaches,

you have people picnicking,
you have surf crashing,

you could just be out
for a day on the beach.

Then in amongst the
dunes and the scrub pines,

you catch glimpses of something
that looks completely out of place.

Closer inspection reveals
a clear military purpose.

So you see remnants of bunkers
and these concrete towers.

It's really in congress, because
you're on this lovely beach

where, as far as
most of us know,

there's never been
any kind of a war.

In fact, war did
come to these shores,

one that would claim
thousands of lives.

On the eastern shores of
the United States in Delaware,

there are distinct signs

that heavy artillery
was once deployed here.

This long dark corridor
cuts through the centre

of this huge bunker

and old rusty chains
hang from rails.

This was clearly used
for hoisting something

of significant weight.

Outside abandoned weaponry
still lurks behind the dunes.

Like everything else at this
site, these guns face out to sea.

But who were they afraid of?

Who were they expecting to
invade the eastern seaboard?

It might seem like the
Americans were being paranoid.

I mean, who's going to attack
the us on the Delaware coast,

the Jersey shore?

In fact, an invasion did come,

but would this facility be
ready to meet the challenge?

The desolate relics date
back to the late 1930s.

Few people know
what went on here.

For a long time,

their use and function was
kept completely confidential.

Today historians are keen to
preserve these military monuments,

and dr Gary wray is
leading the charge.

When the military built this space,
this place became super-secret

so you weren't
allowed on the beach.

Military put the word out that
nothing was to be talked about

so what you're looking at here

is america's first
homeland security.

This is fort miles.

A military complex guarding
the mouth of the Delaware river.

We don't usually think that Delaware
is one of america's major rivers

for shipping

but it does lead to a
very important harbour

in Philadelphia.

A naval shipyard as well
as arsenals and refineries

preparing high octane
fuel for combat aircraft

were all located up-river.

This was a key defence
place and on the east coast.

This water behind me was
just saturated with tankers.

So if a foreign power can
get in and stop the traffic

in and out of Delaware bay

they've taken a great
step toward victory.

The us military arrived
at this 5,000-acre site

and installed the first
large artillery pieces

in 1938.

Just over a year

before world war ii
broke out in Europe.

Hitler fantasised about
seeing New York City

engulfed in flames.

Hitler used to talk
about his dreams

of seeing German long-range
bombers attacking our coast.

One of his more
over the top concepts

was that he might actually be
able to do a land invasion of the us.

The threat was real,

we thought the Germans
were coming over the horizon

and we were preparing for them.

The layout of the site

reflects how the us expected
the Germans to attack,

with their powerful
superfast battleships,

the observation towers
were the first line of defence.

Tyler dreiblatt has been
studying the site for years.

So this tower was here to spot
for the big German battleships,

like the Bismarck
and the tirpitz,

that's what we were worried
about here at fort miles.

When construction
began on these towers,

the us had yet to enter the war.

But they were sending cargo
ships down the Delaware river

and out across the Atlantic to
support their ally Great Britain.

After the fall of France
in may, June 1940,

Great Britain stood alone
against Nazi Germany.

The battle of the Atlantic was
an attempt by the Americans

to supply Great Britain

despite the presence
of the German fleet.

This was a tonnage war

and if Hitler could cut
britain off from her supplies

then victory would
be within his grasp.

Heavy artillery that
could fire miles out to sea

protected the bay...

..And the flow of
traffic heading to britain.

About late '42, early '43 the
fort was ready to rock and roll.

Made of 100,000
tonnes of concrete,

battery 519 hides the Jewel in
the crown of this defence system.

This corridor cuts
through the centre

of this huge bunker.

Old rusty chains
hang from rails,

this rail leads you to
this monstrous gun.

When you see this, the
towers start to make sense.

These lookout towers were
intended to help the artillerymen

find their targets better.

They would take a
shot, see where it landed

then the guys in the tower
would say two degrees right,

two degrees left.

So this tower was one of
15 up and down the coast,

all working together to target
those enemy battleships.

The fort's smaller guns also
required bombproof housing,

this mighty structure
is battery herring.

Herring was part of
one of four batteries,

and you can still
see the turntables

where the six-inch
guns would have sat.

You could fire a six-inch
gun, it fired 100-pound shell,

armour-piercing shell about
once every 15 seconds.

And so a blizzard of
shells would start coming in

on enemy ship.

And with more artillery

and fortifications
installed 12 miles away

on the other side
of the Delaware bay,

fort miles was complete.

Now the Americans believed
they were ready to take whatever

the Germans could throw at them.

A lot of military experts had
their minds in the mentality

that wars are fought
between giant battleships

bombarding things on land,

giant forts on land
bombarding the battleships.

Those ships are going
to appear over the horizon

to attack the east coast
of the United States,

so this fort was built
to defend against them,

the Germans,
unfortunately, outfoxed us.

The problem was
Germany didn't arrive

with battleships.

The Germans arrived with
something far more deadly

that would soon claim
thousands of American lives.

Just when this defensive
system was completed

it suddenly became obsolete.

December 1941,

Hitler declared war on the us

and dispatched five state
of the art long-range u-boats

to attack america's
Atlantic coast.

The stealth of Hitler's submarines
had already caused devastation

in European waters.

The Americans don't really have
good sort of submarine sense,

they're still thinking in
terms of the fleet actions

and the open sea
and they don't realise

that these German submarine
wolf packs are creeping

right up to the American shore.

The lookout towers designed
to help aim the big guns

turned out to be basically
useless against submarines.

The result was carnage.

During world war ii,

fort miles had been built
to protect Delaware bay

against Nazi attack,

but they were not prepared

for Hitler's state of
the art German u-boats.

During a five-month
period over 600 us ships

totalling 3 million
tonnes were lost.

Over 5,000 American
sailors lost their lives.

18 of these ships sank
in front of fort miles

at the entrance of
the Delaware bay.

In the interest of morale,

us military chiefs
may have wanted

to keep this humiliating
defeat secret.

But the locals knew something
was happening out there

because you could
hear the explosions

and see the flames at night,

and then in the morning
you would see the oil

and the flotsam that
would come ashore.

It was a disaster
of the first order.

The German u-boat
war against us shipping

on our own coast
was devastating.

The German admirals
and submarine skippers

referred to these early months
of the battle of the Atlantic

as the happy time.

The Americans had to come
up with a counter move fast,

the curiously long
jetty at fort miles

was part of their response.

The decision was taken to
deploy this enormous minefield

across the mouth
of Delaware bay.

500 floating mines
tethered to the sea bed

to stop any German submarines
coming up the Delaware river.

The 6,000-pound mines were
deployed in the deepest channel

of the Delaware bay where
submarines could lurk.

The mine were for 1,700 feet
long and it was out in deep water

and you had a
minefield out in front.

It was a huge cable
that went across

from the Delaware side
to the New Jersey side

which blocked the
mouth of the bay.

The men in this tower
also worked together

to spot ships
moving into the bay

where they could make the
decision to set off one mine, 15 mines

or all 455 that crossed all
the way across the Delaware.

With the remotely
detonated mines in place,

fort miles was finally
able to protect war supplies

coming out of Delaware bay.

Until 14 14th of ay 1945,

when u-boat 858
surrendered at the pier

effectively marking the end
of world war ii for this region.

After the war,

the German u-boats were
replaced by Soviet submarines.

And when the cold war ended
fort miles finally closed in 1991.

Today this dramatic facility
is preserved as a museum.

It serves as a stark reminder

of just how real the Nazi
threat to america was.

In north-eastern Spain in
the ancient province of aragon,

a cluster of buildings

have been left high and dry.

This place used to
be really civilised,

there are balconies,
a local watering hole,

a beautiful great church.

You can see where people
lived and where people worked,

where people worshipped,

the only thing you
can't see is the people.

The old stone buildings
are completely crumbling,

the ceilings are really
only being held up

by half-rotten tree branches.

At first, there's little indication as
to why this place was abandoned.

What kind of evacuation
gives people the time to pack up

all of their worldly goods
and go down the road

and in hopes of building
a future somewhere else?

Something about this
site that doesn't add up.

North-east Spain
is a pretty dry area

but there was water here

so it must have been
an attractive place to live

at some point. Why
would anyone leave?

The people who are settled here
had found the garden of Eden,

but someone with an
even bigger stick wanted it.

It's a David and Goliath story

but this one doesn't
have a happy ending.

This is the ancient
village of esco.

For hundreds of years,
it was a stopping point

along the 1,000-mile
pilgrimage route,

the camino de Santiago.

Thousands, millions of christians
would make the pilgrimage

along this route on foot.

This place, esco village,
was a very welcome rest stop

on that pilgrimage.

Esco lies in a rugged
mountainous region

thanks to the pilgrims
and the fruits of the land,

it thrived well into
the 20th century.

Jose Luis clemente
remembers that time well,

this was his childhood home.

Translation: "This
is where I was born.

"I was happy here, I
lived here for ten years.

"I remember it all very fondly.

"Years ago these
ruins we see now

"they had a life of their own.

"There was a very
strong community here.

"At the beginning
of the last century,

"there was as many
as 260 villagers here."

Land suitable for growing
crops is scarce here,

limited to the
narrow valley floor.

But the relics of
irrigation channels,

terraces and orchards

show the esco farmers made
the most of what they had.

Farming was clearly at
the centre of village life.

Translation: "People
lived off the land.

"In these groves, they
grew vegetables, fruit,

"all sorts of things."

The village of esco blossomed
by virtue of its geography.

This is a very dry part of Spain

but this particular
region is well watered

by runoff from the
pyrenees mountains.

So for hundreds of
thousands of years,

this valley is nicely wetted
by its favourable geology.

Translation: "There was a
water channel that brought water

"from the esco river

"and that irrigated
all the orchards."

But when Jose was just ten
years old something happened

to change this
ancient way of farming.

The very water that
was the font of life

for this village

would ultimately
strike its death knell.

The mid 20th century was
the height of the fascist dictator

general Franco's reign.

He led Spain's
drive to modernise.

In the 1950s

Spain was beginning
to rebuild itself

after a series of crises.

The civil war, world war ii

and the decision was made
to modernise this part of Spain.

Spanish industry
starts to develop

and there is more and more
need for water for farming,

for drinking water in cities,

for powering industry

and that water's got to
come from somewhere

and you can't wait
for the rains to come

to run a modern
industrial economy.

Esco sits in the yesa valley,

an oasis in a
notoriously dry region.

Here snowmelt and summer
rains coursed downstream.

It was a prime target for
one of general Franco's

ambitious water
infrastructure schemes.

The decision was made to
put a reservoir in the valley

which they did by damming the
river that runs right through here.

In 1960 general Franco
opened his prized yesa dam.

Towering almost 250 feet high

it created one of
the largest reservoirs

in the pyrenees,

and flooded 2,500
hectares of land,

including the precious
fertile pastures of esco.

But general Franco's iron
grip on the people of Spain

meant speaking
out was unthinkable.

Translation: "There were
no protests or anything

"because they were a political
crime and simply not permitted.

"Here the people were
very straightforward,

"not cunning enough and
they did what they were told."

Esco itself wasn't flooded

so at first Jose's family and
the other villagers thought

they could survive.

So the water starts to rise,

their farmable
land starts to shrink,

their bread basket
was becoming a bucket.

They tried to sustain themselves
on the land they had left

but it simply wasn't
enough to feed everyone.

Bit by bit the villagers saw

that their livelihoods were
going under the surface

of that lake.

Translation: "The reservoir
flooded all the richest lands.

"It wasn't enough for
all the families to live on

"so everyone of them chose to
leave and live somewhere else."

Water for these farmers
was the stuff of life

and it was water
that snuffed it out.

Today Jose heads up the
esco residents association

which campaigns
to get their land back.

But their ultimate goal is
to return home one day.

Translation: "It takes one
drop to start a waterfall.

"So if I put down a
stone and build a house

"others will start to follow
and build more houses

"and the village will
come back to life."

Spain has been a
democracy a few years now,

so now it might be
possible for people to return

and make new lives
in their old village.

In kawatana, in the
far southwest of Japan,

strange structures jut out

into the bay.

When you see this area
it looks very peaceful.

Wooded hills, lovely bays,

it looks like maybe someplace
you'd go on a yoga retreat.

But as tranquil as this
place might first appear,

in truth it conceals
a violent past.

As you head up one of the
hills you can see up to the peak,

get the most amazing
views out across the water.

And that I think is the clue
as to what this place was for.

This is a very remote location.

You don't see major
towns, it's not a major port,

you don't see a lot of
other boats in the area.

Whoever built these
buildings had a reason

to be as far away from
other people as possible.

Were they doing something secret?
Were they doing something dangerous?

There are stories
here in these buildings.

While few clues remain,

this site was, in fact,
connected to the deadly attack

on Pearl harbour.

So what secret
work took place here?

And what role did it
have on that fateful day?

The peak of activity
dates back to world war ii.

Translation: "74 years
have passed since the war

"but in kawatana there
are many places like this

"leftover from that time."

Murai tatsumi is a
volunteer guide in the area

and first began exploring
this site at a young age.

Translation: "I happened to be
born here and grew up around here.

"So this was a
good area to play in,

"but it used to be like
an overgrown forest here,

"nobody really knew

"what those buildings
originally were."

While the history of the
site was neglected for years,

from its earliest days
at the end of world war I,

this location
played a vital role

in improving Japan's
naval capabilities.

I think today many
people don't realise

just how powerful Japan was

in the first half of
the 20th century.

It had taken over territory
on the Chinese mainland,

it had taken over a number of
formerly German island groups

in the pacific.

And they were needing
bigger and bigger

more sophisticated naval facilities
for this big ocean-going fleet

that was going to protect
this growing Japanese empire.

The unique features
still visible today

betray the specific
purpose of this facility.

The key thing about
this area is the pier

and more importantly
that section at the end,

the cut-out section.

This site is all
about the water,

but we're not looking
at ships or vessels here,

it's all about weapons.

This was the location Japan
used to test new torpedo designs.

This is the katashima
torpedo test site:

Situated on the
shore of omura bay,

a large inland body of water,

the Japanese Navy had found
a quiet and secure position

to advance their
weapons programme.

But how would this site go
on to play a devastating role

in drawing the us into battle?

Translation: "Here are the marks

"from where the mine
cart rails used to be.

"They'd put the
torpedoes in the mine carts

"and then bring them here.

"And then here, there
was probably a crane.

"They'd put the
torpedo on the crane

"and lower it 3m to
5m under the water.

"They'd aim it at a target
2km away and fire it from here."

So the whole of the
infrastructure here

is aiming at one thing and
that's testing torpedoes.

You have to be
able to track the thing

and that's where we've got the
whole tower up on the hillside.

We can see the
observation platforms

where naval officers testing
the torpedoes would watch them

run across the water and, you know,
note down observations about route,

speed, direction, velocity
all that kind of stuff.

You've had spotters
out on boats as well,

a risky business

because those torpedoes didn't
always go where they thought

they were going to.

Testing facility like this
they were doing a dry run

with all of their various
torpedo technologies,

testing the various fuses,

testing how it would
run at certain depths.

Testing whether it
would explode on impact

or if the fuse would explode
near the hull of the enemy ship.

Throughout the 1930s

Japan used torpedoes in
pursuit of its expansionist aims.

But to perfect their
weapon of choice

the land-based facilities
were just as vital.

Translation: "Here
you can see a channel,

"this must be the waterway.

"There are water pools
for industrial water next to it.

"Over here we think
there were machines

"for processing."

Little evidence remains

to determine exactly
how this place ran

and the full extent of
the work carried out here.

But tatsumi is certain of
this building's importance

to the project.

Translation: "To fire torpedoes,

"you have to use
air to burn the fuel.

"So in this room the compressed
air was put into the torpedoes.

"This was the most important
part of the preparations."

After years spent
perfecting their weapon,

on the horizon was Japan's
greatest challenge yet,

an attack on the us Navy.

To help prepare them

a specific model of torpedo
was tested numerous times here:

The type 91.

This was a torpedo designed
to be dropped from aeroplanes,

they specifically modified
it to work in shallow water

because they had
a target in mind.

They wanted to use
it for the big attack

they were planning on
Pearl harbour in Hawaii.

Following the
successful attack in 1941,

Japan continued with
its torpedo campaign

across the pacific theatre.

Japan's focus on
developing torpedo technology

was very smart
because at this time

many naval experts
were still thinking

about battleships as the
primary weapon of war.

And battleships, in fact,
were almost obsolete by then.

Their strategy was to
kind of draw the Americans

across the broad pacific

and whittle down the
strength of the American fleet.

By taking out their big
battleships and aircraft carriers

with torpedoes.

The vast majority of ships
sunk in the pacific during the war

were sunk by torpedoes,

whether fired from other
ships, from submarines

or dropped from aeroplanes.

With a renewed
interest in this weapon,

the site here began to
expand as investment flowed in,

reclaiming land from the water
to turn the island into a peninsula

and expanding the facilities
upwards and outwards.

Marooned in the
water, lies the remains

of what was intended
to be the next step.

Translation: "Torpedoes were
believed to be the best weapon

"in the world at the time.

"Japan wasn't thinking
about losing the war at all.

"So they need to mass-produce,

"and they built a factory here

"which was the largest
one in the country."

The pace of engineering advancing
during world war ii was phenomenal

and this extra building
was for targeting torpedoes,

it was for research into
cutting-edge sonar technology.

Translation: "This building

"is called investigating
receipt test site,

"it was a testing
facility for sonar.

"To help accurately determine
the enemy warship's location

"and distance.

"We don't have any
records of tests here

"because just after two
years of building the site

"the war ended.

"So we think this
was all for nothing."

On 9 August 1945

the atomic bomb was
dropped on Nagasaki

less than 20 miles away.

Within days the
Japanese surrendered,

and this entire site has
lain deserted ever since.

Translation: "Now we
put emphasis on the war

"as something we
shouldn't repeat again.

"And to keep the peace,

"we want people to
come and see this place

"and think about it carefully."

Abandoned, disintegrating,
reclaimed by nature.

Structures once
at the cutting edge

bearing witness to the
forces, pioneers and villains

that defined the world today.

Emblems of a shared past
still standing in our present.

Captioned by
ai-media ai-media. TV