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Haikyo

Mar 14 2023 16 Comments

A dark and abandoned old Tokyo house

Tucked away in the middle of some trees with many of the window shutters sealed tight, this old house had quite the atmosphere. A certain sense of darkness in more ways than one, particularly with large photos and paintings of long dead family members, and possibly former residents, always looking on.

Unusually, the calendars upstairs and downstairs differed considerably, and what was once more than likely a multi-generation household, clearly ended up with just the downstairs rooms being used. Presumably by a lone elderly person. The setup and stuff left behind also suggestive of someone who was quite possibly bedridden, and almost certainly receiving medical care. Factors that could also help explain some of the incredibly dated technology found on the same floor despite the last calendar being from 2015.

All that, however, is speculation and educated guesswork at best. What the true story is, and who those people were, will more than likely remain unknown. The photos below then are mere records of far more important moments now forever lost.

dark and abandoned old Tokyo house

dark and abandoned old Tokyo house

dark and abandoned old Tokyo house

dark and abandoned old Tokyo house

dark and abandoned old Tokyo house

dark and abandoned old Tokyo house

dark and abandoned old Tokyo house

dark and abandoned old Tokyo house

dark and abandoned old Tokyo house

dark and abandoned old Tokyo house

dark and abandoned old Tokyo house

dark and abandoned old Tokyo house

dark and abandoned old Tokyo house

dark and abandoned old Tokyo house

dark and abandoned old Tokyo house

dark and abandoned old Tokyo house

dark and abandoned old Tokyo house

dark and abandoned old Tokyo house

Categorized: Haikyo

Jan 24 2023 10 Comments

Scenes from a faded Japanese hot spring resort

Kinugawa Onsen a few hours north of Tokyo is in many ways the perfect symbol of Japan’s numerous old resort towns. Faded, down-at-heel places whose best days are long gone and slow decline is now the harsh and very visible reality.

Coming of age as it were during the mass tourism boom of the 1950s and 60s, the success of those times in many ways led to Kinugawa’s subsequent downfall, as it resulted in more, and ever bigger hotels, culminating in the construction madness of the bubble years. The inevitable bursting of said bubble in the early 90s, however, promptly put an end to such developments, and the area’s visitor numbers peaked around the same time. Since then it’s been a gradual spiral downwards, both in popularity and appearance.

Understandably there’s now a concerted effort to demolish the many hotels that fell foul of changing times and trends, but the damage can’t be so easily undone, as whatever beauty the river and surrounding landscape once possessed has long since been lost. Local businesses have also suffered, with many now no more, as the former white-walled behemoths that dominate the town catered to their customers’ every need, meaning guests didn’t have to leave the premises.

Several decades after its peak then, here are some photos of Kinugawa Onsen at the end of 2022. A fascinating place in so many ways, but none of them are what the money men would have hoped for when they set out about changing it all those years ago.

Kinugawa Onsen

Kinugawa Onsen

Kinugawa Onsen

Kinugawa Onsen

Kinugawa Onsen

Kinugawa Onsen

Kinugawa Onsen

Kinugawa Onsen

Kinugawa Onsen

Kinugawa Onsen

Kinugawa Onsen

Kinugawa Onsen

Kinugawa Onsen

Kinugawa Onsen

Kinugawa Onsen

Kinugawa Onsen

Kinugawa Onsen

Kinugawa Onsen

Kinugawa Onsen

Categorized: Haikyo, Photography

Jan 13 2023 16 Comments

Game consoles, music and lots of memories in an abandoned Japanese home

Some of the abandoned homes I’ve photographed over the years have begun the slow process of being taken back by Mother Nature, whereas others are almost beyond belief in their scale and opulence. The house below, on the other hand, felt very different. A lot of it was filled with clutter, but a few rooms gave a real sense of the lives once lived there, such as their interests, and the approximate time period. A weird sense of intimacy that was further added to by the photo albums left behind. Faces that conjure up so many questions, but at the same time offer next to nothing in the way of answers, as despite the words of Karen Carpenter that once echoed throughout the house, it will sadly never be yesterday once more.

memories in an abandoned Japanese home

memories in an abandoned Japanese home

memories in an abandoned Japanese home

memories in an abandoned Japanese home

memories in an abandoned Japanese home

memories in an abandoned Japanese home

memories in an abandoned Japanese home

memories in an abandoned Japanese home

Categorized: Haikyo

Dec 13 2022 8 Comments

The misty mountains and abandoned homes of Tokyo’s far west

Whenever I head out to Tokyo’s westernmost environs, it never fails to amaze me that the completely different surroundings are still part of the capital. The scenery there is worlds away from what most people think of the city, and indeed what the vast majority of it looks like. A feeling that was increased even further last week with the mist that greeted us as we moved towards the area’s mountains.

The idea was to try and find some old houses that we suspected were long-abandoned. A plan that worked out perfectly, although not all the former homes had been unoccupied for as long as we expected. Most had unsurprisingly been left unused for a couple of decades, but one had quite shockingly been lived in until 2016. Accommodation that would have been uncomfortable in the city’s more urban areas, but out there in the mountains it must have made for an incredibly tough life to say the least.

However, a few dates and the locations aside, there’s next to nothing we know about the people who once resided there, such as how they lived and why their homes ended left the way they were. The photographs taken on the day are really all I have, so here they are, along with shots of the journey up to and between the houses. Scenes that prompt a whole host of questions, but at the same time provide little in the way of answers.

misty mountains and abandoned homes of Tokyo’s far west

misty mountains and abandoned homes of Tokyo’s far west

misty mountains and abandoned homes of Tokyo’s far west

misty mountains and abandoned homes of Tokyo’s far west

misty mountains and abandoned homes of Tokyo’s far west

misty mountains and abandoned homes of Tokyo’s far west

misty mountains and abandoned homes of Tokyo’s far west

misty mountains and abandoned homes of Tokyo’s far west

misty mountains and abandoned homes of Tokyo’s far west

misty mountains and abandoned homes of Tokyo’s far west

misty mountains and abandoned homes of Tokyo’s far west

misty mountains and abandoned homes of Tokyo’s far west

misty mountains and abandoned homes of Tokyo’s far west

misty mountains and abandoned homes of Tokyo’s far west

misty mountains and abandoned homes of Tokyo’s far west

misty mountains and abandoned homes of Tokyo’s far west

misty mountains and abandoned homes of Tokyo’s far west

misty mountains and abandoned homes of Tokyo’s far west

misty mountains and abandoned homes of Tokyo’s far west

Categorized: Haikyo, Photography

Nov 08 2022 11 Comments

Dystopian scenes from a long-abandoned love hotel

The slow, decades-long intrusion of Mother Nature, along with the far more destructive behaviour of human beings, have taken a huge toll on this old and incredibly dated love hotel.

Abandoned for many years, it would have been something special without the wanton vandalism, but unless located in the middle of nowhere, that’s always a big ask. Then again, the damage, along with what remains relatively intact, do give the hotel a truly dystopian look and feel, particularly so given its one-time purpose.

Dystopian Japanese love hotel

Dystopian Japanese love hotel

Dystopian Japanese love hotel

Dystopian Japanese love hotel

Dystopian Japanese love hotel

Dystopian Japanese love hotel

Dystopian Japanese love hotel

Dystopian Japanese love hotel

Dystopian Japanese love hotel

Dystopian Japanese love hotel

Dystopian Japanese love hotel

Categorized: Haikyo

Oct 04 2022 10 Comments

The dated but once plush interior of an abandoned Japanese home

Old homes that nature is rapidly taking back are some of my favourite abandoned buildings to photograph and explore. Along with the beauty of such decay, they are also full of hints about the past and the people who once lived in them.

The large, concrete structure below, on the other hand, is in many ways very different. Condition-wise there’s little wrong with it apart from a bit of damp here and there. Quite a lot of the rooms have been cleared out too, and yet rather weirdly, others remain pretty much untouched. Plus in regards the decor, it’s absolutely nothing like your average Japanese house.

An explanation for the latter is that at least one of the owners was a dentist, meaning their taste may have been debatable, but their wealth most definitely wasn’t. The clinic itself was on the ground floor, but unfortunately the dental chairs have been removed, with anchors in the floor now the only giveaway.

However, despite such differences, the stories, or at least the suggestions of them, are still everywhere — not to mention questions regarding the likes of why the owners left, and why so much remains untouched. None of which I have answers for. The only real detail was a newspaper dated 2008, but that arguably confuses matters rather than clearing anything up.

In some ways such a lack of information is frustrating, but in other ways it’s not. It allows us the chance to imagine and make up our own stories. The possibilities of which are endless. Unlike whatever happened here.

abandoned home of a Japanese dentist

abandoned home of a Japanese dentist

abandoned home of a Japanese dentist

abandoned home of a Japanese dentist

abandoned home of a Japanese dentist

abandoned home of a Japanese dentist

abandoned home of a Japanese dentist

abandoned home of a Japanese dentist

abandoned home of a Japanese dentist

abandoned home of a Japanese dentist

abandoned home of a Japanese dentist

Categorized: Haikyo

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