Economic activity on the island consists of fishing and cultivation of vegetables and citrus fruit.

[2] Hashirajima is connected to the port at Iwakuni Mondays through Saturdays by a high speed ferry.

The island is best known for its association in World War II with the surrounding Hashirajima Anchoring Area, located 30 to 40 kilometres (16 to 22 nmi; 19 to 25 mi) south of the naval base at Kure, Hiroshima.

Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy that did not need dock repairs would anchor at Hashirajima, and it was also used as a staging area before fleet departures.

It was also the site of the loss of the Japanese battleship Mutsu, which suffered an internal explosion and sank there on 8 June 1943.