Nothing like exploring an original find in the countryside – and this one was a beauty! Exclusively on Abandoned Kansai… 🙂
A while ago I took a bus through the countryside when I spotted this partly overgrown, massive wooden gate along a road in the middle of a forest. I made a note and was able to find the place on GoogleMaps when I got home, even verified it via StreetView. Behind the gate and in the forest I saw several roofs, so… chances were that I stumbled across another original find. The area was accessible by public transport, but not easily, so it took me a while to get back there – and it was well worth the trip!
The problem with original finds and exploring by public transport is that those places are, even more so than established locations, basically impossible to plan for. In the past I had as little as 15 minutes to explore and document a place as this was either the only connection to the middle of nowhere – or I would have had to stay 5 hours, basically ruining the rest of the day… and maybe be done after 20 minutes anyway. Usually I plan with 2 hours per exploration. Good for most locations, but even if it’s a fantastic place you can cover a lot of ground in that time. And if it’s a dud, I can sit down and relax for an hour… or 90 minutes… or 110. Unfortunately, 2 hours is not always an option. In this case I had about 45 minutes, though 120 minutes would have been perfect!
I got past the gate surprisingly easily and finally had a look at what was behind – a series of rather modern buildings with large glass elements, some connected by a wooden deck and / or a bridge on the upper floor. Steel, glass, concrete; quite 21st century. I still don’t know what this place was exactly, but judging by what I saw and based on the phone number I spotted on a sign, belonging to a company in Kyoto City, I assume it was one of those infamous company retreats. (One of the benefits working for a Japanese company of decent size and reputable image is access to one or more company retreats. Most of them are located in / near onsen towns or along the coast. Some are simple huts with self-catering, others are fully staffed mini resorts with a pool, arcade machines, a gym, access to a nearby country club, … Employees can use those facilities, usually located within two hours of driving from the main office, for free or a small fee.) Unfortunately I was in a hurry – and all the doors were locked. No signs of vandalism whatsoever. No broken things, no graffiti, no BB bullets. Just those amazing buildings in the afternoon sun, pure bliss, surrounded by nature. But the buildings seemed to be empty anyway, so in the end I was very pleased with the photos I took.
My expectations when walking up to the Kyoto Company Countryside Retreat were super low. “Roofs behind an abandoned looking gate” means nothing in Japan, could have been anything, including demolished the week before. What I found was a building complex, a small compound, that I absolutely loved. This was my kind of exploration, my kind of architecture. I didn’t want to leave, but I had to; buses and trains aren’t waiting for anybody. So I left with a heavy heart. Because it was such a stunning place – and because I felt like I wouldn’t be able to share it on Abandoned Kansai for a long time as I didn’t want to drag it into the public eye. But then I figured… that if I wouldn’t publish the photos of the gate, the Kyoto Company Countryside Retreat would be almost impossible to find. So, after thinking about it for a while, I selected some pictures, wrote up this little article and… well… here we are. I’m 99.99% sure that you won’t be able to find photos of those abandoned buildings anywhere else on the internet – it was the solo exploration of an original find, even my closest urbex friends don’t know that I’ve explored it… or when… or that this place exists (to the best of my knowledge – maybe they went there 5 years ago and decided not to publish it, like I initially did… 🙂 ). Please enjoy the gallery below and feel free to share this article with any of your friends who might be interested in Japan, urban exploration or just unusual things in general.
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cool 🙂 looks like it wouldnt take much to make it useable again haha
It’s the first abandoned place even I would be interested in buying.
I was literally about to comment that I would love to buy this place looks like only a couple of cosmetic jobs it be back up to scratch. Love seeing your adventures Hi from the UK