Finding abandoned places is 95% hard work in the form of long hours doing research – and 5% luck; unless you count the limitless amount of dilapidated and rather uninteresting shacks you pass by driving around the Japanese countryside. Then the ratio is probably more like 50/50…
The Wakayama Beach Hotel was one of those 5% lucky finds. An amazing find actually, and it became my favorite abandoned hotel instantly. In spring of 2012 I was on a day trip with a friend of mine from Germany, Dom, when we saw this rather big hotel somewhere along the nearly endless coast of Wakayama prefecture. Abandoned or not? That’s always the exciting question after discoveries like that. The front of the hotel looked like it was just closed for lunch break, but something was strange about the building; for example the fact that hotels usually don’t close for lunch. They are either open or not. So I decided to have a closer look at the back of the hotel, where we ran into a woman walking her dog – since all of us were still on public ground, more or less, we exchanged greetings and went separate ways. From the back Dom and I were able to have a look at the heating room through an open window and at a small greenhouse-like garden over a wall – both looked like they had been abandoned years ago. A pristine, but shut down hotel building on the one hand, an unkempt garden on the other. This was a strange case. At the back of the hotel was also a scary spiral staircase, not really up to modern security standards. Luckily it was Dom’s first urbex experience, as noobs tend to be braver – or they are scared to pieces, but it turned out that Dom belonged to the first group. Before I could even think about it, he went to the closest emergency exit door, grabbed the handle, turned it and… opened the door! I wasn’t surprised that emergency doors were unlocked, I just didn’t expect that they could be opened from the outside…
Seconds later Dom and I were inside the Wakayama Beach Hotel, bright light shining through windows to the left, a rather dark hallway with guest rooms to the right. Since I didn’t have a flashlight with me, the choice was easy: we headed left first. Another turn to the left and I knew we hit the jackpot as we entered an entertainment room with dried out plants – as well as two billiard tables, a table tennis plate, some toy vending machines and half a dozen video game arcade machines. This was so awesome and I was 99% sure that the place was abandoned, until… I heard a strange BANG! A friggin cat outside was hitting her damn tail against the window, almost giving me a heart attack.
From the entertainment room I headed over to the public baths. Both the male as well as the female versions were in almost spotless condition – sweep through and replace the dried out plants with fresh ones and you would be good to go. Same with the rooms along the dark hallway. A couple of minutes of dusting and voila, you’d be able to welcome guests again. Since I didn’t bring a flashlight I was unable to take photos in most of the rooms as it was too dark for my camera to focus – and the videos turned out to be dark and grainy and a bit blurry, too; sorry for that, but it might help you understand how I felt wandering through this spooky, unknown territory. As exciting as it is to make an original find, it’s also nerve-wrecking as you don’t know anything about the place – the layout, the security status, the biohazard lab in the basement… And the next shock followed soon, when I realized that the red emergency light near the fire hydrant in the hallway was still burning! One element of a building being abandoned is that nobody feels responsible for paying the electricity bill – and when nobody pays the electricity bill, usually the power gets cut. But according to several calendars in the kitchen and other places, the hotel wasn’t used anymore for at least three years… yet there was still power, at least for the HAL-like lights.
That in mind Dom and I went downstairs to the ground floor, with its lobby, a bar stuck in the 70s and a gift shop – and an irregular sound in the background, as if two pieces of wood were hit against each other. It was spooky, especially when I saw a cat running across the room and down the small staircase to the basement. I totally fell in love with the bar area, so I took a couple of photos there, but that clicking wooden sound started to drive me nuts!
When Dom and I finally left the Wakayama Beach Hotel we had spent more than two hours there, constantly changing our minds whether this place was really abandoned or just closed – which didn’t really matter in the end, as urban exploration is one big grey area in that regard anyway; the hotel was definitely out of use for several years. (*Nara Dreamland* and tons of famous “abandoned” places all over the world still have security, which makes them “not abandoned” by definition; if they were, nobody would pay for security…)
Over the past four and a half years I’ve been to several abandoned hotels in really good condition, but what made the Wakayama Beach Hotel so special was its amazing 70s style lobby, the beautiful shared baths and of course the entertainment room with the arcade machines – the whole hotel had this exciting vibe of several past decades, but in almost new condition, as if it was time-warped to 2012; with its own power source for the HAL lights…
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Great photos. I really like the staircases and the cacti. 🙂
Thanks, Violet! That staircase was scary…
Thanks, Violet! That staircase was scary…
As always, amazing and very vivid tales! Thanks!
I wonder if your blog has ever caught attention of the owners or responsible people of the places you describe.
Thanks a lot, Marcus Antoninus!
I don’t think my blog has ever caught the attention of any owners and I honestly think in most cases, especially when it comes to the Japanese places, there are no owners anymore; at least none who care. Well, there was one exception actually. The Bundesanstalt für Immobilienaufgaben / Institute for Federal Real Estate, who currently owns the closed Taylor Barracks in Mannheim, Germany, somehow found out about my blog and… linked to it. 🙂
I was intrigued by the Suntory clock because it seemed out of place. I Googled the word and found out about Japanese whiskey. There’s a whole raft of empty Suntory bottles and paraphernalia on eBay, too.
As always, an entertaining post, today.
That clock looks awesome and I would love to have it in some kind of mancave – but I’m an urban explorer, not a looter. And I hope many explorers after me will enjoy the clock on location as much as I did… It’s probably from the 70s or 80s, too, like the rest of the interior. The whole hotel was like a (closed) candy store for vintage item lovers.
That clock looks awesome and I would love to have it in some kind of mancave – but I’m an urban explorer, not a looter. And I hope many explorers after me will enjoy the clock on location as much as I did… It’s probably from the 70s or 80s, too, like the rest of the interior. The whole hotel was like a (closed) candy store for vintage item lovers.
Great photos and I loved the way you told the story of your exploration. I felt like I was reading a really good novel! 🙂
That clock looks awesome and I would love to have it in some kind of mancave – but I’m an urban explorer, not a looter. And I hope many explorers after me will enjoy the clock on location as much as I did… It’s probably from the 70s or 80s, too, like the rest of the interior. The whole hotel was like a (closed) candy store for vintage item lovers.
Whoa, really breathtaking!
It definitely was one of the more adventurous explorations! 🙂
Great post! I really like your vivid and colorful writing, it feels as if one is with you exploring these buildings (^_^)
Mission accomplished – thank you very much, Fujiko!
Great find and great shots – I know that rush of adrenaline when you hear a bang in a place that should be abandoned – thank you and Hello Kitty 🙂
Thanks, Robert! The whole place was just surreal. The cat(s), the HAL lights, the wooden clicks… This hotel should be used for one of two things: Open it as a 70s retro hotel and event venue – or shoot a slasher movie there, with only natural light!
you story is amazing, so tense. wondering if I could join your interesting adventure on those abandoned place.
Thanks! 🙂
I sometimes go on day trips with friends and fellow explorers, but I usually decide where to go / what to do on rather short notice – mostly depending on the weather and other available options.
Great stuff. Love the massive cactii. I can never get those things to grow more than 10 cm. Must have been giving them too much attention!
When it was still open the hotel must have been a wonderful place to stay at and very well taken care of in general. I wish it would be reopened, I actually love that retro style!
Great photos! And a lovely story to go with it.. I felt like I was there. I’m amazed at how well preserved this place is!
Thanks a lot, that’s one of the best compliments you can make – I am happy to hear that you enjoyed the article!
Magnificent find and great write up! I dream of finding such a pristine location… one day. One day…
Thanks a lot!
I actually have three similar locations on hold: another hotel, a ryokan and an onsen center – not in perfect condition like this one, but close; 95%. Japan has some world-class abandoned places, they are just very, very, very hard to find…
That’s a fascinating glimpse back to the 1970’s. I enjoyed you narative about exploring the building.
Thanks a lot for your kind words, Martin!
This is spectacular, loved this feature!
Thanks! This one was a really lucky find… 🙂
hello abandoned kansai its dennis the vizsla dog hay isnt it obvius wot happend in the abandond hotel??? the cats did evrywun in and tuk over and now it is the kingdum of the kitties!!! yoo wer lukky to eskayp with yore lives!!! ok bye
Yo dawg 111% agreez!!
I enjoy the stories behind the photos just as much as the photos. This place does indeed look like an amazing find…….well explored!
I am really happy to hear that, because doing research for all those articles takes quite some time and effort. It’s good to know that some people actually read and enjoy them! 🙂