Dentsu scanned 90% off-limits Gunkanjima into 3D data that pays for itself

World Heritage sites face a chronic funding gap: decay, overtourism and disaster all threaten them, while conservation budgets are never enough. Gunkanjima, the 'Battleship Island' in Nagasaki, was deteriorating so fast that walls collapsed within months and 90% of the island was closed to the public.

Dentsu's HERITAGE DATABANK approached preservation differently: digitize the asset first. Working with Nagasaki City and one of the world's leading scanning teams, they spent two weeks capturing every corner of Gunkanjima in 3D, including interiors of buildings, classrooms and gymnasiums that evoke life as it once was.

Rather than treating the 3D data as a static archive, Dentsu built an ecosystem around it — licensing the scans for tourism, games, entertainment, education and research. Each use generates value, and that value is directed back into conservation.

The model reframes heritage as an asset that can be exploited commercially precisely so it can be preserved physically, closing the loop between use and upkeep.