name Matsuo Mine LOCATION Hachimantai, Iwate BACKGROUND Once the biggest sulfur mine in Japan, Matsuo Mine used to employ over 10,000 people in the mid-20th century. To improve the working conditions for its employees, concrete apartment blocks were built well before they became popular in Japan. Inside they had flush toilets and central heating, as ...
Name: Sports World Location: Izunokuni-shi, Shizuoka Background: This large-scale amusement and sports complex opened in 1988 at the height of Bubble era prosperity. The park featured a giant wave pool, water slides, putting greens and other attractions, but its middle-of-nowhere location proved to be a handicap. Sports World shut its doors in 1993 and began ...
Name: International Motel Hokuriku Location: Bungyomachi, Kaga-shi, Ishikawa Background: Opened in 1963, IMH was Japan’s first motel—and the predecessor to the modern love hotel. It was built along a national highway at a time when Japan was fast becoming a car-oriented society, and the site has come to be seen as a symbol of that ...
Name: Camp Drake Location: Asaka City, Saitama Background: This haikyo spot is one of many former American bases around Tokyo. Originally a golf club, it became the site of an army uniform factory during World War II, and was subsequently used as a training camp by the US army. After being returned to Japan in ...
Name: Hotel Kotei Location: Kochi, Shikoku Background: Not much is known about the history of this former love hotel, but the remnants of its past glories have proven irresistible to haikyo enthusiasts. Empty, leaf-strewn pools, plush red sofas and circular beds give a slightly creepy atmosphere of faded luxury. Access: Take the shinkansen to Okayama, ...
Name: Nagano Korean Elementary and Junior High School Location: Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture Background: This decaying structure was the home to Korean schools from 1971 to 1999, when the campus moved to a newer building elsewhere in the city. Traipse through the gymnasium with its graffiti-covered walls and streamers lying abandoned on the floor, remnants of ...
Name: Russia Mura Location: Agano-shi, Niigata Background: This Russian-themed amusement park opened in the early ’90s just as the Japanese economy was crashing. “Attractions” like Cossack dance performances, a mammoth skeleton and a replica of a Russian church weren’t enough to lure the crowds, and the park soon fell into disrepair. In 2003, it was ...
Name: Hatada Transformer Substation Location: Ayagawacho, Ayauta-gun, Kagawa Prefecture Background: This power station, the first of its kind in Japan, was constructed in 1926 using technology developed by German manufacturer Siemens. It supplied power for the Kotoden Kotohira railway line until 1980, when another substation opened in nearby Takinomiya. The exterior is smothered with ivy, ...
Name: Inujima Refinery Location: Seto Inland Sea, Okayama Prefecture Background: Located on one of the many islands of the Seto Inland Sea, Inujima Refinery was one of several facilities established to support the prospering copper industry. Opened in 1909, it would only see ten years of service, due to a collapse in the value of ...
Name: Seigoshi Mine Location: Izu, Shizuoka Prefecture Background: Located in one of Japan’s major mining regions, this gold mine in western Izu was in operation roughly from 1932-1987. It lies in the shadow of the better-known Toi Mine, which has become a popular tourist destination. Unlike many of its neighbors, Seigoshi is known for its ...
Name: Nicchitsu Mine Hospital Location: Nicchitsu Mine, Chichibu, Saitama Prefecture. Background: Though Nicchitsu Corporation is still going strong, the village that used to thrive around it hasn’t fared so well. One of the most famous spots in Japan for haikyo enthusiasts, the site includes uninhabited houses, a school and various factories, parts of which are ...
Name: Kasumigaura Branch Hospital of Tokyo Medical & Dental University Location: Oyama, Miho-mura, Inashiki-gun, Ibaraki Prefecture Background: This site was once home to a military airbase, and seaplanes would take off from the sheltered waters nearby. After the end of WWII, it was repurposed as a hospital of Tokyo Medical & Dental University and used ...
Name: International Motel Hokuriku Location: Bungyomachi, Kaga-shi, Ishikawa Background: Opened in 1963, IMH was Japan’s first motel—and the predecessor to the modern love hotel. It was built along a national highway at a time when Japan was fast becoming a car-oriented society, and the site has come to be seen as a symbol of that ...
Name: Inatori Quarantine Hospital Location: Kamo-gun, Shizuoka Background: From the immediate postwar years until 1965, this facility was used to treat patients with diseases like tuberculosis and dysentery. The wooden structure is severely damaged, but the ward rooms still have original bed cushions made of straw. This is a well-known shinrei (ghost) spot. Access: Inatori, ...
This abandoned water park appears out of the blue to motorists driving along a narrow ocean-side road in Kaihin-gun, Tokushima. It used to be a mid-sized amusement area, and even with no one left to use it, the pool is filled with rainwater. The slide, despite its worn paint, looks like it’s waiting for children ...
Name: Akeno Gekijo Location: Ibaraki Prefecture What: Strip club History: Located in a desolate wooded area where a row of love hotels once stood, Akeno Gekijo is a mysterious space that shows substantial fire damage—the stage is covered in ashes, and burnt chairs are scattered about. This club where lust once filled the air is ...
Name: Heiankaku Location: Iwama City, Ibaraki History: Not much is known about Heiankaku, except that the vast space must have once been used for marriage celebrations—wedding dresses and pictures of newlyweds still lie scattered about. At some point, a fire ravaged the complex, leaving the walls and ceilings charred, though it’s unclear whether the conflagration ...
Name: Hokutan Shimizusawa Power Plant Location: Yubari City, Hokkaido History: Built in 1941 to provide electricity for a local coal mining community, Hokutan Shimizusawa symbolized the vibrancy of Yubari, which is also renowned for its melons. In 2007, the city went into decline after the federal government famously failed to save it from bankruptcy, and ...
Staircases that go nowhere at the spinechilling Battleship Island