Take a tour of the most desolate city on Earth: Google Street View goes to the ghostly Japanese island from James Bond's Skyfall Google sent an employee with a Street View camera backpack to roam the streets of Gunkanjima for its immersive map The island provided was the lair of criminal mastermind Raoul Silva, played by Javier Bardem, in James Bond's Skyfall Google: '[It] has changed into a tourist destination where a once-thriving town is now decaying and devoid of life' By Matt Blake It has been described as the most desolate place on Earth, but that hasn't stopped Google visiting Japan's abandoned 'Battleship Island' to offer virtual tours on Street View. The web giant sent one of its employees with a camera backpack to roam the streets of Gunkanjima filming for its immersive map. And as these pictures show, Google's young trekker roamed the deserted island, clambering over rubble and passing long-forgotten ruins, to capture its dilapidated beauty in extraordinary detail. Scroll down for video. Adventure: The web giant sent one of its employees with a camera backpack to roam the streets of Gunkanjima filming for its immersive map Long-forgotten: Google's young trekker roamed the deserted island, clambering over rubble and passing long-forgotten ruins Stunning: The island provides beautiful views of the ocean from its uppermost point Gunkanjima, also known as Hashima, is a deserted island of concrete that is slowly crumbling away on Japan's west coast and provided the setting for the lair of criminal mastermind Raoul Silva, played by Javier Bardem, in James Bond's Skyfall that also starred Daniel Craig. Deserted, decaying and crumbling into the sea, visitors to this abandoned settlement could be forgiven for thinking they had entered a long-forgotten war zone. However, this is Gunkanjima - Japan's rotting metropolis. And it has been described as the most desolate place on Earth. 'Hashima has transformed into an eerie tourist destination where you can see a once-thriving town decaying and totally devoid of life,' Google wrote in a blog post. 'Apparently, Hashima's buildings are deteriorating so rapidly that you can hear parts of the concrete collapse as the wind blows from the ocean.' Eerie: Google sent one of its employees with a Street View camera backpack to roam the streets of Gunkanjima filming for its immersive map Inspiring: Gunkanjima, also known as Hashima, is a deserted island of concrete that is slowly crumbling away on Japan's west coast and was the inspiration for Raoul Silva's lair in 2012 James Bond caper Skyfall Desolate: Deserted, decaying and crumbling into the sea, visitors to this abandoned settlement could be forgiven for thinking they had entered a long-forgotten war zone Overgrown: The island, near Nagasaki, Japan, was home to a coal mining facility that housed 5,000 people in the 19th century. But after coal mining declined in the 1970s, the island was abandoned, the empty buildings left to decay Meaning 'Battleship Island' in English, Gunkanjima s one of 505 uninhabited islands in the Nagasaki Prefecture, about 15 kilometres from Nagasaki itself. It earned its nickname due to its resemblance to a military warship. 'Winds have been very unkind to Hashima over the last several decades, and with the buildings falling apart we hope this imagery can serve as a digital archive of its current state before further collapse,' Google added. Despite being off-limits to travellers, the island has become an irresistible magnet for urban explorers who go to extraordinary lengths to investigate and photograph the island's abandoned buildings. Gunkanjima was once just a small reef but, following the discovery of coal in 1810, was turned into mining facility during the industrialisation of Japan. It gave rise to its own population of workers and inhabitants who were all densely-packed into a self-contained metropolis. Film set: The island provided the setting for the lair of criminal mastermind Raoul Silva, left, played by Javier Bardem, in James Bond's Skyfall, starring Daniel Craig, right The 15-acre island was populated between 1887 and 1974, reaching its peak in 1959 with 5,259 inhabitants. However, as petroleum replaced coal during the 1960s, Japan's mines were hit by closures which eventually reached Gunkanjima. Within a matter of days of the mines closing in 1974, the workers and their families deserted the island, leaving their possessions, which still lay where they were left. After 35 years of closure, the landing ban was lifted on Gunkanjima in 2009, meaning it was no longer illegal for boats to dock at the island. However, it still remains illegal to venture inside the city's walls, meaning urban explorers must go to great lengths to covertly trespass the island