“There is no vandalism in Japan!”
Oh yes, there is, plenty of it! Just have a look here…
On the last two weekends I went exploring on 3 out of 4 days – 5 of the 7 places I actually explored on those 3 days were abandoned hotels… and only 1 of them was exciting, the other 4 were vandalized pieces of garbage; virtually every window broken, every vending machine cracked open, half of the rooms destroyed (and the other half looking like the ones I’ve seen at dozens other hotels before…), all places smelling like mold… Sometimes I wonder if exploring those places is a waste of time. My time, your time, everybody’s time. But then again, you never know what you find. Even some of the most rotten places offer surprises like unusual items or spectacular views. Not the Hiroshima Sports Hotel, a large accommodation for active people featuring a 25 meter pool, half a dozen tennis court and access to the 18 hole golf course right across the street. Rumors had it that the hotel was inaccessible and under constant supervision of the golf course staff, so I was a bit worried not to get inside, but at the same time had high expectations in case I did. Sadly it was pretty apparent upon arrival that I was a victim of outdated information – countless open and broken windows indicated that the hotel had been severely vandalized over the last few years, despite the fact that the golf course and the road leading there were as busy as ever. Luckily access was rather easy, so it was only a matter of timing to get into the hotel without being seen / being seen by as few people as possible.
Sadly the Hiroshima Sports Hotel turned out to be a vandalized piece of garbage, as I mentioned before, sorely afflicted by both metal thieves and your average vandals. The entrance floor (technically 2F) with the lobby, the kitchen, some conference rooms and an office were pretty chaotic, but at least featured a nice graffito at one wall and bird’s nest inside a partly emptied switch box (which I only saw because my fellow explorers Dan and Kyoko told me about it). The promising ground floor (1F) lead outside to the pool and the tennis courts, which I couldn’t take proper photos of because I would have been spotted from the outside within 30 seconds. It also featured two underwhelming public baths, some wet and moldy party rooms as well as a pitch-black and smelly bar – and tons of broken glass, machines, furniture, … Nothing I haven’t published many, many times before on this blog. And the rest of the hotel? Well, 3F to 7F were just average hotel rooms. In surprisingly good condition, given the vandalized two lowest floors, but still nothing you and I haven’t seen many, many times before.
And that’s why I am a little bit conflicted about the Hiroshima Sports Hotel and similar places – on the one hand it sometimes feels a little bit like a chore to take enough photos for a full set at places like that (especially knowing that they attract a lot fewer viewers than the spectacular places that will follow in the upcoming weeks, starting on Tuesday!), on the other it still beats sitting at home watching TV… What do you think? Are you tired of abandoned hotels and maybe even skip them when they appear on Abandoned Kansai? Or do you agree that it still beats watching TV? 🙂
(*Like Abandoned Kansai on Facebook* if you don’t want to miss the latest articles and exclusive content – and subscribe to the *video channel on Youtube* to receive a message right after a new video is online…)
Love the blog and will read and look at any of th eplaces you visit. Thanks for sharing, and it sure beats watching TV.
Thanks a lot – I guess I will keep exploring abandoned hotels then, even the ones that are unattractive at first sight… and second sight… 😉
I live vicariously through these hotel and school tours. Keep up what you’re doing. Anyway, the only TV I watch are baseball games.
Thanks for your feedback! And since you like schools… boy, do I have some spectacular unpublished schools lying around here – the best are yet to come!
Thank you!
…i follow your blog since 2011 if i remember corectly,and since then i havent missed a single post…and i gotta say i actually like this one 😀 maybe its just an average vandalized pile of garbage for you,but i think its still decent (compared to some places here in cz lol) keep on posting this “less exciting” stuff aswell 😀
Wow, you are with me for a long time! Thanks a lot for your feedback, I really appreciate it even though it often takes me two or three weeks to reply. I guess I will keep exploring abandoned Hotels – after all it’s still true: One man’s trash is another man’s treasure! 🙂
hahaha yes 😀 for the few first posts i usally just looked at the pictures,but that changed when you did the posts about ikeshima island,figured out the text part is pretty interesting back then too and since then i read it all 😀 btw ikeshima posts are one of my most favorite ones on your blog :D…and dont worry about it,i read all the replyes,i just dont usally reply to them as i dont have much else to say,but sometimes i do,like right now,haha
Even if it’s “boring” compared to other more exciting finds, I still find it interesting. Sometimes even the vandalism is interesting; why destroy some rooms/floors and not others?! I find little things, like that bird nest, maybe worth it…well…for me to look read and explore your post even if not for you to explore the actual hotel. I’ve enjoyed all your posts for a while now even the mundane ones! Thank you for exploring these places for us 🙂
From someone who will never be fortunate enough to go to Japan, please keep photographing everything!