Haikyo

The vast majority of abandoned buildings are interesting in their own unique way, but for me at least, old houses probably offer the most. The remnants of lives lived, and sometimes sadly lost, posses a poignancy and personal element that shuttered up theme parks and resort towns often lack.

In that past I’ve photographed a whole village lost in time due to death and job losses, plus a long-abandoned mountain settlement once home to a small population of forestry workers. And below is a similar set of images from a little hamlet that now sits silently in the mountains.

Nestled amongst the trees, narrow paths wind their way between the houses, and personal items scattered about each home offer hints about the lives of those who once lived there. Their probable age, interests and even how one of them looked. Everything rather unceremoniously left behind to slowly disintegrate and eventually disappear.

The structures themselves are already in a precarious state, denying us access to all second storey rooms, as well as a good few on the ground floor. It was just too risky. Yet considering the last sign of life there was thirty years ago, and some of the buildings have been standing uninhabited for over half a century, such decay is not the least bit surprising. Time alone of course takes its toll, but the storm we had at the end of the day also gave us a glimpse of how tough life can be up there, and that was nothing compared to the likes of typhoons and heavy snow — or indeed an earthquake.

So this is simply a record of how the hamlet is now, which of course is a far cry from how it once was. A past we will never know, but what remains is more than enough for speculation, and indeed the imagination.

This small set of photos was taken several years ago, but despite going back to the images on quite a few occasions, I really didn’t think they were good enough. I’m still not sure they are to be honest, but that’s a fairly standard concern, so sometimes it’s best to cast aside such insecurities and just go for it. That said, much more of a push to post them was the current climate, and how the photos may now posses a little bit of added poignancy.

The house itself was a mystery. No idea who lived there, or even when they left, as unusually for Japan, there wasn’t a calendar in the property. The only genuine giveaway is the music that was once played there, although clearly it’s the real sound of silence the rooms are now familiar with.

Most haikyo (abandoned buildings) have a unique atmosphere all their own. The faded remains of this old hot spring resort, for example, harked back to a different era, and as such, possessed a sort of melancholic nostalgia. The empty homes and structures of a deserted mountain village, on the other hand, were far more emotive, containing, as they did, personal effects such as photos, clothing etc. Plus completely differently, the mutilated animatronic figures of Western Village theme park made for a vibe that was nothing short of disturbing.

With this aspect in mind then, the building below was similarly special, even though in many ways it’s just another abandoned hotel — something Japan has absolutely no shortage of. Shuttered up and left to slowly decay almost exactly a decade ago, it’s presumably not a very well known spot, as there’s little in the way of damage, and footmarks in the dust were fairly minimal. But due to the bright sun and closed curtains, a couple of the rooms were lit in such a beautiful way that the general quietness was elevated to something almost akin to serenity.

On a completely unrelated note, and one I mentioned in the previous post, the current climate has made work — not to mention life — very uncertain, so if you are a bit flush, or particularly enjoy my photos, then I’ve taken the similarly uncertain step of setting up one of those buy-me-a-coffee/beer pages: https://ko-fi.com/tokyotimes

The light was fading and the building is slowly falling apart, but almost a quarter of a century after closing its doors, this hotel has a silence and atmosphere all its own.

Japan’s mass tourism boom of the 1950s and 1960s, followed by the economic bubble a few decades later, were in many ways the making of the country’s numerous hot spring resorts.

They also turned out to be their downfall.

During the bubble years in particular, ever more, and ever bigger hotels changed the look and feel of such places, and worse, when the bubble finally burst, the inevitable drop in visitors meant there simply weren’t enough people to fill all those many-roomed monstrosities. Add to that the subsequent recession, not to mention changing trends, and it’s no wonder so many of these towns are now rundown, partly abandoned reminders of their once prosperous pasts.

Below then are photographs from such a place. A town like so many others. One that was built in an optimistic past, but now remains forever stuck in a very different, and also indifferent, future.