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Archive for the ‘Haikyo’ Category

Katashima Training School

Posted in Abandoned, Asia, Haikyo, Japan, Kyushu, Military, Nagasaki, School, Urbex, Video, Visited in 2010 on 2010/04/21| 6 Comments »

The Kamikaze suicide attacks of World War 2 are without a doubt the most famous manifestation of Japanese fanatism. But hardly anybody knows that the Japanese military generally had a thing for self-destructing soldiers – they blew up their own people not only in airplanes, but in mini-submarines, speed boats and as divers with mines on top of a 5 meter long bamboo stick. Maybe the weirdest weapon of the “Japanese Special Attack Units” were the kaiten, a strange mix of submarine and torpedo. And all of those poor souls were trained in small town in the south of Japan.
In 1944 the Japanese Navy moved their special training school from Yokosuka (of Shenmue-fame) to the Kyushu countryside – there they set up squadrons for shinyo (“sea quake” – explosive speedboats), kaiten (“change the world” – manned torpedos), koryu (“sea dragon” – mini-submarines) and fukuryu (“crouching dragon” – frogmen). The remains of that training school, including an observation tower and a launching platform for the different vehicles can still be found at a northern shore of Omura Bay.
Arriving at the train station closest to the Training School you would never expect an institution like that in the area – the surrounding is picture book countryside, a great place to go for a summer vacation. Located at the tip of a peninsula you have to walk down a small mountain (well, more like a hill) with some beautiful gardens. Except for the one where the owner took the term “scarecrow” too literal and hung up a dead crow to scare away its fellow species.
After passing through a small fishing village we (like I mentioned in earlier postings: haikyo trip with Enric) reached the remains of the school – one rather big building without a roof, with a smaller, overgrown one next to it. Right in front of main building the already mentioned bridge lead into the lake to a launching platform for the vehicles that were the school’s main subject. Further along the coast and a few meters into the lake, once connected by a metal bridge, was a still standing observation tower.
Coming closer I realized that we weren’t the only people there: Two (female) cosplayers and a photographer were in the back of the main building, a fellow haikyoist was shooting the front from the outside – later on two or three more haikyoists joined us; seems like the location isn’t really a secret…
The Training School must have been a lot bigger when opened in 1944 – there were foundations and wall remains on both sides of the main building, indicating a much bigger complex. The remaining building had some pits in the ground and two rather big doors with a track once leading right onto the bridge, so I guess it’s safe to assume that it was used to repair and / or store the different kinds of vehicles. The school itself as well as the accommodations for the staff and soldiers must have been someplace else. Sadly only the walls remained, some of them with leftover fixtures for rainwater gutters and things like that; the same applied for the other remaining structures, too. Enric found a shard somewhere – of course I can’t say for sure that it was from the time the Training School was in use, but I took a picture anyways as I like (broken) items from daily life.
When choosing the Training School as a place to go to I mainly did it because it was located on the way between the two main attractions of the Kyushu trip (one of the two we had to cancel thanks to scheduling conflicts – more about that in the next blog entry…). The pictures I’ve seen on several Japanese sites weren’t that spectacular, but it was on our way, so why not have a quick stop and take a few pictures? Initially we wanted to go there the previous day, but in the end I was glad we didn’t. The weather was nasty that day and I’m sure I would have felt miserable and the pictures would have been quite dull. Instead we went a day later and while the weather still wasn’t good enough to go to Gunkanjima (the boat trip was cancelled – but we made it there the next day, so not much harm was done in the end… you will be able to read all about that in the next blog entry) it was absolutely gorgeous for a photo shoot. A cold, bright, windy day at first the whole place was flooded with warm light when the sun went down…

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Shime Coal Mine

Posted in Abandoned, Asia, Fukuoka, Haikyo, Japan, Kyushu, Mine, Urbex, Video, Visited in 2010, Zombies on 2010/04/11| 19 Comments »

The first *haikyo* stop on *my recent Kyushu trip* is one of the internet favorites: The Vertical Shaft of the Shime Coal Mine.
Easy to spot from long distances this 47.65 meters high tower was finished in 1943 as the center of a coal mine that opened in 1889 and closed in 1964. But that’s not the only reason why the place is on virtually every haikyo homepage: It’s easy to access by public transportation and even easier by car. In fact there is a soccer field and a children’s playground right next to it. But that’s not all: Since December 8th 2009 it is considered an “important cultural property” by the Japanese state – so they fenced it off and put up some lights as if it was a 400 year old cathedral, so you can enjoy the view around the clock; you can even find the address and coordinations of the shaft on the Japanese Wikipedia. Right now they are putting up fences around two or three other remains of the mine and they planted some cherry trees to create a park surrounding. Haikyo for the whole family with no entrance fee – but nothing else either, not even a photography challenge. The construction itself is quite unique, but other than that it feels kind of dull, nothing anybody would (or should) spend more than 15 minutes on…
(EDIT 2011-04-02: To all the visitors coming from Reddit – thanks for stopping by; and thanks to bakerybob for linking this blog! Since you seem to like zombies, please have a look at the *Hospital #126 in Pripyat* and my *Nara Dreamland Special*. Both won’t make good zombie fortresses, but they would be perfect as settings for zombie movies! And there will be more “zombie style” locations soon, so please don’t forget about this blog in the future… maybe by *following me on Twitter* or / and *on Facebook*?
EDIT 2011-04-04: Since the discussion on Reddit turned into a full-grown meme now known as the “Anti-Zombie Fortress” meme I decided to add a short video clip I took when visiting the mine. It’s nothing special at all – I just put it up since so many people are interested in the topic right now… For more interesting videos, all in 720p,  *please click here*.
EDIT 2013-09-17: *Yesterday I revisited the Anti-Zombie Fortress…*)


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Back From The Island(s)

Posted in Animals, Asia, Fukuoka, Haikyo, Japan, Kyushu, Nagasaki, Uncategorized, Urbex, Visited in 2010 on 2010/03/25| 8 Comments »

Living in Japan days off are a valuable thing. And long weekends, even if they are only three days long, are a perfect opportunity to go on vacation.
This time my buddy E and I went to Kyushu to enjoy some days of photography, food and haikyo. Fukuoka, Nagasaki, Sasebo. Not everything went according to plan, we had to cut down the haikyo locations from four to three, but in the end the trip turned out to be great. Great food, great locations, great comradeship.
This posting is accompanied by photos that are not necessarily haikyo related – the haikyo locations deserve three postings of their own, so please keep coming back for more. One of them will be about the Shime Coal Mine, one about the Katashima Training School and the last one… well… it will be about Gunkanjima, the most awesome ruin complex in Japan.

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Takada Ranch Ruin

Posted in Abandoned, Asia, Haikyo, House, Hyogo, Japan, Kansai, Urbex, Visited in 2010 on 2010/03/12| 10 Comments »

Initially I wanted to post another haikyo first, but since it took me quite a while to update this blog I decided to come back with one of my favorite haikyo so far: The Takada Ranch Ruin. Coincidentally it seems to be one of the rarest, too…

Located in a totally different area of the Hyogo countryside than “Doggy Land” the Takada Ranch Ruin was a samurai residence given up quite a long time ago – and that’s pretty much all I know about the place. I don’t even know if it’s the real name or if somebody made it up. But the sheer size of the property (including a huge and completely overgrown park) makes it highly likely that it was once owned by rich and powerful people.
Entering the Takada Ranch Ruin is as easy as it can be – it’s located along a rural road with no direct neighbors and the (former) entrance door is wide open.

The first of several buildings on the premises set me back in time 200 years instantly – a long, not very wide wooden house along the road that looks right out of a samurai movie. Too bad it was partly collapsed and some rooms were filled with plastic trash bags, but it was still quite impressive. From there a path lead deeper onto the estate, with a small house to the left and several buildings to the right. The main quarters were quite big and must have cost a fortune to build. Now partly rotten they created whole movies in my head while I was carefully progressing across the wooden floors. I’m sure the buildings were constructed long before electricity was introduced to Japan as all the installations looked like they were added as an afterthought. There were only a few plugs and light bulbs – and the fridge in the kitchen looked very, very old.
East of this conglomerate of buildings I found a car wreck that was clearly put there long after the estate was abandoned – Japanese people love to dump their unused belongings like that as waste disposal can be quite expensive if done properly. Close to the car were two now completely destroyed buildings, one of them made of stone. While the existing buildings looked like they were vandalized (only by a very few people though and not as nasty as most other places), I’m sure those two constructions were torn down professionally. Why it was handled that way? I have no clue.

But it got even stranger when I progressed further. After I passed through a little forest I found some quite thin concrete surfaces and wall remains. Next to them were some weird metal constructions with the leftovers of a few wooden arbors. This whole area looked like it was destroyed a long time before the buildings in the front were given up with no debris to be found. But again I can only guess when that happened. Or what happened. Maybe the buildings were stables, maybe they were some kind of accommodation?

Although not very outstanding on paper (partly collapsed wooden buildings, all stone buildings demolished) the Takada Ranch Ruin instantly grew on me while I was exploring it – and it continued afterwards. The huge estate boosted my imagination like no other place before with its simplicity and history. To me it’s one of the few hidden haikyo treasures, one that gives you a glimpse at a time long gone; if you are patient enough to find the right spots to look at.


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Iimori Mine

Posted in Abandoned, Asia, Haikyo, Japan, Kansai, Mine, Urbex, Visited in 2009, Wakayama on 2010/02/24| 4 Comments »

After about a dozen *haikyo* trips all on my own I took a dear friend and colleague to the Iimori Mine in Wakayama. Doing urban exploration on your own or going with somebody are completely different experiences with both advantages and disadvantages, so I was a bit sceptical at first – but now I have to admit that I prefer to go with company. Especially since Enric and I complement each other very well.

When we arrived at the Iimori Mine we were surprised to see that our destination was located in a beautiful mountainous area with lots of orange groves. Yes, orange groves. In the middle of the mountains. In Japan. In December! Stunned by the gorgeous nature we walked around for a while exploring the groves and looking for alternative ways to get to the mine: The straightforward entrance was blocked by a company and closed off by a barbwire fence to a water canal – at least we thought so…

We went up a hill and after an adventurous climb along a steep slope we made it to the second highest level of the mine ruins. There it turned out how good it is to have a partner who complements you. While I’m more of a planner who hasn’t climbed over a fence or even wall in about 20 years, Enric was totally fearless finding a way through the forest up the hill. I guided Enric to the mine, he guided me in.
If you like taking pictures of rust and concrete Iimori Mine is the place to go! The amount of great subjects is almost endless and shooting took us quite a while. On the way back we had to get further up again and that’s how we made it to the top part which offered a stunning view down the valley. By that time it was already afternoon and since the sun goes down rather early in Japan we decided to call it a day.

But the fence bothered me… Since we only reached the upper parts of the mine I wanted to have at least a quick look at the barbed wire fence – which turned out to be a good idea since the fence not only had a gate without barbwire, but it ended 30cm before it reached the water canal – so you can easily walk around it! Another example of great Japanese planning… For once not being afflicted by it, we took our chances and entered the lower part of the mine although the sun was already setting.

While the upper part was all about concrete and rust, the lower part was more about concrete and jungle. The vegetation there was pretty thick even in the middle of winter and at a certain point I had to give up to advance further – partly because of the climbers and trees, partly because it was actually getting dark.

When I looked for historical information about the Iimori Mine on the internet I was disappointed to find barely anything. No longer texts, no pictures. All I know is that it was an iron sulphide mine opened in 1878, bought by Furukawa Mining in 1918 and closed down in 1970.

Overall the Iimori Mine is a great urbex destination. Beautiful location, completely different looks depending on the way you approach it and an endless amount of pictures to be taken. On the downside there are no real buildings left – just a wild construction of concrete, metal / rust and (partly burned) wood. (Even vandals spare the place since there is barely anything left to be destroyed without a serious amount of dynamite.)
In case you are an urbex newbie going on your own, I would recommend to gain some experience first – the Iimori Mine is a dangerous place and should be approached with respect. Especially in summer, when it seems to be infested with snakes…

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One Dragon Hotel

Posted in Abandoned, Asia, Haikyo, Hotel / Ryokan, Japan, Kansai, Osaka, Urbex, Visited in 2009 on 2010/02/17| 5 Comments »

It’s obvious that I post my urban exploration experiences not in chronological order and this time I will jump back to the very early days: My first indoor haikyo. The One Dragon Hotel is another internet favorite located in the southern part of Osaka. There are not a lot of known facts about the place – nobody seems to know when it was opened up or closed down. But there are the usual rumors of financial problems and the owner committing suicide. A classic you can hear about pretty much every closed hotel in Japan.
Since the One Dragon Hotel is built partly over a lake and the sides are blocked by fences protecting private property the only way to easily enter the place is by sneaking in through the back via a park. And although I went there on a very sunny day the place was pretty scary. The common way is to enter through the basement into a rather dark corridor, only lit by a few windows to the north. Like I said, this was my first indoor exploration, so every step was a new experience. Since I went alone and had neither an experienced guide nor an equally unexperienced friend at my side horror was lurking behind every corner; at least in my mind. It’s funny to look at the pictures now, remembering how I felt when I took them.
The One Dragon Hotel must have been shut down about 25 years ago and its location so close to a lake left it with lots of rotten components. Furthermore it was mentioned in “the book” (Nippon No Haikyo, one of the few books that include more or less detailed maps), so its location is known to a lot of people, even those who don’t consider haikyo a regular hobby. It’s not surprising that the place attracted a lot of vandals – most floors and ceilings are ripped apart, a few rooms were set on fire and the hallway to the shared bath collapsed. Maybe I was overly cautious back then, but I remember the One Dragon Hotel being in pretty bad shape.
I’m sorry to say that the pictures quality isn’t that good this time – my camera was brand new and I had barely any clue how to use it… so this is a real rookie posting. The next one will be more exciting, I promise!

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Nara Dreamland

Posted in Abandoned, Amusement Park, Asia, Haikyo, Japan, Kansai, Map, Nara, Urbex, Visited in 2009 on 2010/02/10| 10 Comments »

(Most search engines referring to this blog usually end up up here, although the main article about Nara Dreamland is considered the *Nara Dreamland Special* by now. For a look at the area around Nara Dreamland on GoogleMaps, including some fancy icons linking to articles on Abandoned Kansai and videos on YouTube, please *click here*.)

Initially I planned to do a three part series about the Nara Dreamland without giving away too much about its location since it’s considered something like the last holy haikyo cow. But due to events that may or may not be related to a recent blog post I decided to not do that. I’ve heard that the owner(s) of Nara Dreamland don’t want to have pictures taken by trespassers a.k.a. urban explorers to avoid attention on the internet. Something I totally understand and basically respect. But respect is a mutual thing and that’s why this blog entry will be a bit different than usual. Nara Dreamland is really one of a kind – the place as well as this blog post. (Don’t expect something similar here too soon…)

First of all – here is where you can find Nara Dreamland:
34° 42′ 0″ N, 135° 49′ 27″ E
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&ll=34.70021,135.824168&spn=0.004587,0.009645&t=h&z=17&msid=206399389614348219908.00049a6abf8e42dabb0b0

But what is Nara Dreamland? Some would describe it as an extremely cheap copy of Disneyland. More or less successful for the first years of its existence it was annihilated by Universal Studios Japan in Osaka and closed in 2006. It seems like people hated the place and considered it abandoned even before it actually was – these guys say “it’s an ugly, disgusting, abandoned looking theme park ” and even call it “a total dump”:
http://www.themeparkreview.com/japan2004/nara1.htm

Since it closed down Nara Dreamland actually became more and more popular – as an abandoned place on the internet. Since I would never enter this huge abandoned and apparently untouched amusement park I can only show you what other people found when they went there:
http://tw.silk.to/am/dreamland/dreamland__20060610/index.php (Oops, this set of pictures was taken when the park was still open – but who can see the difference anyways…?)
(If this material was created by illegally entering Nara Dreamland I totally distance myself from it as they obviously disrespect the owner’s wishes! But I guess those people asked for permission in advance…)

If you want to go to Nara Dreamland please go ahead. But be aware that people say that the security there is tight. The whole park is surrounded by fences, most of them with nasty spikes and rusty barbed wire. There are talks about guards patrolling the area and there are motion detectors yelling automatic messages at you – scared me half to death when I was walking along a public street (!) around the northern part of the park, just minding my own business. I don’t know if those installations are inside the park, too, since it is so obvious that people are not wanted there… now even less than when the park was still open for business.
Oh, and at the eastern parking lot there are the main entrance and several buildings. The area has no fences, only some ropes preventing people from entering. Since it’s still private property of course I didn’t cross the ropes, but the northern building looks interesting and like a place worth checking out. Especially the observation tower part is very tempting and must offer a great view. I would never enter the building since the owner doesn’t want to draw attention to it. And by it I mean Nara Dreamland in Nara city, Nara prefecture, Japan.

To bring this joyful entry to an end I’ll present you some pictures I’ve taken back in December – all of them were taken from public roads; there was no trespassing or any other illegal activities involved! Enjoy… And if you go to Nara Dreamland, the most fascinating abandoned place in Japan, remember one thing: It’s all about respect!

(I went back to Nara Dreamland after this posting, so for all your Nara Dreamland needs please have a look at the Nara Dreamland Special – including night shots and the hardly ever seen Nara Dreamland Hotel. And since this article is quite popular, especially with first time visitors: You can follow Abandoned Kansai on Twitter and *like this blog on Facebook* – and of course there is the *video channel on Youtube*…)

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Koga CC House

Posted in Abandoned, Asia, Haikyo, Hotel / Ryokan, Japan, Kansai, Shiga, Urbex, Video, Visited in 2009 on 2010/02/07| 2 Comments »

After I finished shooting at the Koga Family Land I walked back along the street that surrounded the Koga Country Club at the eastern side. I knew from a Japanese map I found on the internet that there must have been another haikyo nearby, some kind of club / guest / employee house. Unfortunately the person who marked the map missed the spot, so I had to look around for quite a while – but in the end I was rewarded with a haikyo I only saw a small picture of beforehand since it is widely ignored by the usual crowd visiting Family Land.
Although I spent almost an hour taking pictures and videos at the place I’m still not 100% sure what the building was used for exactly. Right at the (open) entrance were dozens of shoes lockers and a vending machine. From there I went to a private bed room (maybe the quarter of a caretaker?), a staircase to the second floor, another small antechamber with doors to five (hotel style) rooms, a washing / rest room – and to the left I found a dining room and a kitchen. Going up the stairs there was a pretty big open space, some kind of lounge for the people staying there, now completely empty. To the left was a hallway with about 10 rooms, to the right two more rooms (one of them locked) and another washing / rest room. From the lounge you could go outside on a terrace – now filled with lots and lots of furniture.
Overall it was an average haikyo, I guess. But I nevertheless liked it since the building wasn’t vandalized at all and in decent condition – and since it’s very close to the mostly demolished Family Land the combo is definitely worth a visit. I just still wonder why there was an open package of instant noodles next to a porn video in one room…
(Addendum 2012-02-06: I just added the video walking tour – I never intended to publish it, so please don’t get your expectations too high. This was one of the first videos I ever took…)


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“Doggy Land” Revisited

Posted in Abandoned, Amusement Park, Animals, Asia, Haikyo, Hyogo, Japan, Kansai, Urbex, Visited in 2010 on 2010/01/31| 1 Comment »

My first visit to the “Doggy Land” in early December was abruptly ended when the police showed up to re-enact a car accident. Seven weeks later I came back to finally have a closer look at that strangely fascinating dog theme park that was opened in the summer of 2001 and closed in the summer of 2008.
Entering “Doggy Land” is as easy as it can be, at least by theme park standards. Unlike other parks “Doggy Land”‘s fence has no spikes or barb wires, so there are several locations where you can enter easily and out of sight of the surrounding streets. Overall the park is in great condition – no vandalism and only a few rusty spots here in there. Since it’s closed for only about 1.5 years and barely known to the internet there are no graffiti, no broken windows or mirrors. 
But what is “Doggy Land” exactly? Well, it seemed to be a theme park for people who love dogs. There is a dog cinema, a dog train, a dog racetrack, a restaurant and a snack bar, several educational signs – and even a place where you could rent a dog to take a walk with. I’m not sure if you were allowed to bring your own dog as information about the place is almost nonexistent. 
But I seriously wonder what people would do there. Sure, you can rent a dog for 2000 Yen / 30 minutes and go for a walk. Watch a dog race at the awfully small racing track. But what would you do for the rest of the day? If you combine the amounts of eateries and restrooms they almost outnumber the attractions “Doggy Land” had to offer! I guess people thought the same and that’s why the place closed down after only 7 years…

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Sekigahara Menard Land

Posted in Abandoned, Amusement Park, Asia, Chūbu, Demolished, Gifu, Haikyo, Japan, Snow, Urbex, Visited in 2010 on 2010/01/27| 8 Comments »

I recently stumbled across Sekigahara Menard Land again after seeing pictures a while ago; it opened in 1972 and was closed in 2000 – at first under the pretext of renovating it; 3 months later it was closed for good. This time the pictures came with a map, so finally I had the exact location and although I’ve read it was destroyed I thought: “Great! 2 hour train ride, 1 hour hike – nice and easy Saturday trip!” Man, was I wrong…
Living in the Osaka area snow becomes little more than a memory. It snows on maybe two or three days a year, but it hardly ever sticks to the ground. 5° Celsius is considered “really cold” by the locals and overall Osaka winters don’t deserve to be called winters.
When I started my little Gifu vacation it was about 10° Celsius and sunny outside, perfect for the usual T-shirt and leather jacket combination. Reaching Lake Biwa the sky became cloudy and when I started to head east patches of snow were lying on the ground. When I arrived in Sekigahara I was welcomed by the iciest snow storm I experienced in years – horrible weather. After about an hour of walking along country streets I finally reached Menard Land, freezing like hardly ever before…
Entering was as easy as it can be, if you ignore the fact that the snow was about 20cm high even right along the street leading to SML; I was never that glad to wear hiking boots on my explorations. The few remaining fences can be passed on the side, but there was not a lot to see – except for lots and lots of snow. The entrance was quite disappointing, even the buildings I saw on the satellite pictures were gone. I followed a former maintenance road / hall and a way uphill to the right where I assumed was the main part of the park. That turned out to be a dead end: After I sank about 50cm into deep snow several times I gave up since I had no clue what was under the snow, if the way I assumed underneath would lead somewhere, and what was left of SML anways – especially after the entrance was very discouraging.

3 hours to get there, 10 minutes of taking pictures… great.
But it got worse. Completely wet from the snowstorm (it came down almost horizontally!) and sinking knee-deep into the snow I decided to go to another station just so I didn’t have to walk the same way back – not a smart decision since that other station was further away and made me walk along a highway. When I reached the other station more than 1.5 hours later my umbrella was destroyed, I was soaking wet and my hands were stiff from the ice cold wind. Of course the waiting room at the station was closed so I had to wait another 25 minutes in the chilly weather for the train to come. And it was no surprise that only 2 stations later the sun was shining and the weather was great…
Hiking in the snow was kinda fun, except for the fact that I wasn’t prepared for it at all. But overall the whole trip was a total disaster – especially in winter Sekigahara Menard Land is a total dud! (I might come back in summer though to find out if there is still something left behind the little hill that was covered by half a meter of snow… maybe with a quick sightseeing stop in Hikone.)
Oh, and by the way: Technically this haikyo is in the Chūbu area of Japan, but from Osaka it’s way easier to reach than certain places in Wakayama or the northern parts of Hyogo and Kyoto prefectures…
Addendum: In spring of 2010 I went back to Sekigahara Menard Land – you can read about it here.)

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