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.

Turn preservation data into a revenue asset

Digitizing first means the asset survives even if the physical structure does not.

Licensed data creates a self-funding revenue loop instead of relying on grants.

90% of Gunkanjima is inaccessible, so 3D data is the only way most people can ever experience it.

An open data ecosystem invites companies and individuals to build new value on top of the archive.

Instead of asking for a bigger preservation budget, make the archive itself generate income — digitization becomes the funding model.

The project won the Digital Craft Grand Prix at Spikes Asia 2025 and an ACC award, and Dentsu is expanding the HERITAGE DATABANK model to further World Heritage assets.