Abandoned Kansai

A new video in a long time, just weeks after I said to expect no more. But this one is different…

For most of its existence, Abandoned Kansai featured a video or two with every article, in addition to text and photos. They were pretty much always taken at the end, after I’ve explored the respective location and knew it reasonably well – which was kind of necessary since I didn’t edit them at all. As I mentioned before, I initially took them only for my own reference… and to make use of a Sanyo Xacti I originally intended to be my main camera in Japan, but then I picked up urbex as a hobby and the photo quality was kind of sub-par for that hobby, but the videos were pretty good (for the time), so I switched to Nikon for photos and kept the Xacti for videos. Fast forward something like 10 years and the Sanyo died – at first I was upset since I also lost a days’ worth of walkthroughs, including the amazing *Trump Hotel*, but then I was kinda glad that I had an excuse to not take videos anymore.
Fast forward six or seven years. I had forgotten what a pain in the behind those videos were for me and my co-explorers, so I made the stupid mistake of buying a Insta360 X4 at Yodobashi Camera for an upcoming trip to Hokkaido after being instantly fascinated by the camera’s ability to easily take 360° photos and videos – something I quickly regretted. *Please click here if you missed that story…* Long story short: The experience with Insta360 and Yodosucky Camera was so off-putting that I probably lost interest in video for good.

A few days later I was exploring an original find in the outskirts of a rather remote town in Hokkaido, when I heard some ungodly noise in the distance – as if animals were screaming and somebody was yelling. It really kinda freaked me out, but of course I finishing taking photos. If I would have quit because I was afraid a little bit, I wouldn’t have made it past my first explorations back in 2009. Afterwards I continued up a hill, further away from the town, and entered another abandoned building – and again I heard those bloodcurdling screams, this time a bit closer. I once more finished my exploration, trying to stay calm and then… I walked further up the hill, towards the noise. As you do when you are by yourself on a rainy day exploring what are supposed to be abandoned buildings in the outskirts of a rundown town in Hokkaido. What could possibly go wrong?
Well, I walked around a corner of a road, when all of a sudden I saw some fur on a metal construction – and seconds later the screams again! My first thought was: a dog on some torture device! Then some kind of head was turning towards me… and I realized that it was a wolf Halloween mask with flickering eyes. Like something from a haunted house. Now, you have to know that I don’t like Halloween or horror… or violence in general; except for Dead Rising – Frank West covered wars, you know! So this thing freaked me out for the third time, but this time really for real! What the heck was this contraption?!
Well, the sound obviously was pre-recorded and came from a speaker, so at least I wouldn’t have to deal with some animal torturing hillbilly. When the most messed up animatronics I have ever seen finally stopped after 20 or 30 seconds I carefully had a closer look. Upon inspection the setup apparently consisted of a solar panel connected to a battery, connected to the screaming furry fella, with a control unit and two speakers underneath. I was intrigued, but nothing happened for a while…
I quickly set up my photo camera, which I hardly ever use for recording videos, but this was too strange to not record. Initially I came from behind and didn’t know what to expect, but for the pictures and videos I decided to use an angle that shows a bit more. Nothing happened for another 15 minutes. I got closer from the road at the left side, trying to trigger the device. Still nothing. Then a friggin fox walked by on the main road, right in front of it! Still nothing. My camera was mounted on a tripod, set to video – and everything happened super fast, so I only got blurry photos of the second furry fella. Fortunately the fox couldn’t care less about me and I was spared an attack as well as a rabies shot. At this point I was running out of time, and when you have to catch one of four buses per day, you make sure to meet their schedule! So I walked a bit down the “main” road, in front of the damn contraption – and finally it triggered! Repeatedly. With different sound samples. So I adjusted the camera in a way that I could trigger the thing without being seen and… well, enjoy! It might not be that scary on video, but in reality it got me pretty good. Both from a distance as well as approaching it for the first time from behind.
I still don’t know what the Horror Wolf was for though. It was located at a T crossing halfway up a hill amidst abandoned / rundown companies in the outskirts of a rather remote town. The next residential buildings were about half a kilometer away, the town center with the bus stops rather 2 kilometers. The purpose most likely was to scare away bears, but I don’t know for sure.

And now please enjoy the first videos I have published in years… and probably the last ones ever. That stuff in a 360° video would have been so cool, but *the unholy alliance of Insta360 and Yodobashi Camera* had to mess up… 😦

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