I felt Lost. It was a hot and humid early summer day in Japan, about six weeks after the controversial finale of the infamous TV show – and I was hiking up a rocky path. Down the slope next to me the concrete leftovers of turbine mountings, in front of me the buzzing green hell of a Japanese July. Seconds later the rather low concrete dam appeared in front of me and I climbed a flight of stairs to get to the top of it. I knew that this solid construction that once supplied electricity for a small amount of people would be there, yet it felt very mysterious in its slightly surreal environment and state. Right next to the dam, on the other side of the narrow valley, stood a small wooden building, little more than a shack, that looked like it was straight out of the 70s. I got closer and had a peek through an opening – an electronic device with a glowing display was slightly brightening the darkness, showing numbers in bright red… and all I could think of was 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42!
Of course I didn’t dare to enter the shack, worrying to set off an alarm (or a self-destruction device…), but I took a couple of photos. It turned out that the display was labelled “Pressure Indicator”, though I still don’t know where exactly and what kind of pressure was measured by the device. Instead I stumbled backwards a couple of steps, when less than a meter away from me a big branch crashed to the ground; I guess they are called “widow makers” in English, and now I understand why, though no widow would have cried over me.
A locked and not really confidence inspiring metal staircase was leading down to the now dry basin, so I continued further to the back, where mushrooms were growing on moist trees. Luckily I didn’t hear any voices whispering in the background, but the atmosphere was still quite spooky, despite the bright sunshine. From the back, the concrete and metal construction looked like a little bit like a submarine turned into stone, but since I was all alone, I didn’t want to take any risks – so I headed back to the part below the dam, the one with the giant turbine sockets.
This area was extremely humid as countless tiny rivulets were running through, making me feel like I was in a steam sauna, sweat dripping from every pore of my body. Moss was growing on the huge concrete blocks, trees and vines made exploration tougher than necessary. At the lowest end I found huge concrete pipes leading underground, blocked off carefully by solid metal grids, water rushing in the background – if removed most likely the end of countless uncareful animals and humans!
When I finally left after about 1.5 hours I felt strangely relieved and sad at the same time. As spooky as the remote Kyoto Dam was, as wonderfully fascinating was it in many regards. Long before I saw the first signs of modern civilization again I knew one thing for sure: I had to go back! And I did… *Please click here to find out more about my second visit!*
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the place is mad with green! Nice post.
The place was amazing to explore, but very difficult to photograph. Lighting, humidity, my inexperience back then… I am not very happy with the set, but the atmosphere there was amazing! I hope the Revisited set will do a better job conveying it.
Sometimes it takes a couple of trips to get exactly what you are after – thank goodness we don’t do weddings 🙂
I find it painful enough to attend weddings… shooting them would kill me! 😉
Fascinating place! Maybe it would be nice to go back there in autumn when the leaves become red.
Absolutely! Maybe on a slow weekend. Autumn is urbex season in Japan in general as it is not too hot & humid / cold. Usually I am on the road to explore places I haven’t seen before.
Wow!
🙂
when did you re-vist the dam?
In March 2011 and in January 2013, when it was snowing lightly.
So beautiful, if haunting… can anyone go there or is it cordoned off?
There is a huge fence with a gate, but every time I went there the gate was open.
Thanks!
I love some of the compositions you have in these shots – a fascinating place.
Thanks a lot!
I haven’t been there in almost two years, so I guess I will go back in autumn to see how the maple trees change the atmosphere there.