Abandoned Places of Japan

An anonymous urban explorer has been sharing photographs of the many abandoned places he has been investigating throughout Japan with 2ch – the photographs hauntingly depict some of the most quintessentially Japanese of places, such as faddish theme parks and love hotels, ravaged by abandon and neglect, and in many cases still housing strange oddities – in one case a stuffed mammoth…

He states that where possible he seeks permission from the relevant party before exploring any of these places – not a courtesy many western urban explorers are known to extend.

“First a famous place – a clinic in Gifu prefecture, still filled with relics from the war.”

“The Mochikura mine, deep in the mountains of Niigata prefecture – now more a ruin than a building.”

“The ill-reputed Keishin Hospital in Kanagawa prefecture. It’s not a very appealing derelict at all, is it? Fortunately, it’s finally being demolished.”

“Miyagi prefecture’s Kejonuma Leisure Land – with a Ferris wheel, a rare thing to see left abandoned nowadays. Unfortunately this place is rumoured to facing demolition too.”

“An arts-type kindergarten in Kanagawa. The graduation drawings left by its former pupils are particularly noteworthy.”

“Atop the mountains of Niigata lies a radio tower, famously haunted and used as a suicide spot. Apparently it was once a a radio relay station.”

“An abandoned Miyagi love hotel. Funnily enough, it’s still loaded with stuff…”

“Shizuoka prefecture’s Izushi Sports World. Unfortunately, it is being dismantled. The Izushi peninsula is actually packed with ruins.”

“The king of all ruins, Nagasaki’s Battleship Isle. As expected, it is on another level entirely. I took these a long time ago so the photos are quite small.”

“Niigata Russian Village. It even has a stuffed mammoth. In recent years the hotel part was half burnt down by a suspicious fire.”

“Shizuoka – a place nicknamed ‘Battleship Mansion.’ It has an incomplete, almost organic feel – I like it.”

“A Kanagawa lodging hall. A lovely place dripping with Showa period ambience.”

“The Niigata ‘White House.’ A haunted spot. The story is that an insane girl was kept confined here and eventually killed her family. She killed herself out of guilt. It may lack a little something as far as ruins go, but the barred windows give it an interesting atmosphere.”

“This part is known as the ‘Black House.’ It has a room with hooks. Not a famous place but I like it.”

“Niigata Children’s Village – the car museum. Until a few years ago the building was overflowing with cars.”

“A set of caverns at a Shizuoka graveyard. A man made the caverns into a haunted house… You may find these disturbing.”

“Sorry to frighten you for no good reason. The cavern was dug out for use as an air raid shelter in the war. It seems a man turned it into a haunted house and after he died it was left abandoned.”