![]() ![]() ![]() Negishi Racecourse: A bloody adventure full of stories and history.The Royal House: An abandoned house full of treasures.Little Abandoned Japanese Clinics: Because I really love abandoned hospitals, here are a few more.Abandoned Hospitals: The first abandoned hospitals I have visited.My best photos towards the end, and more… Nara Dreamland: The End of a Dream: When the park was demolished.Nara Dreamland: The Abandoned Rollercoasters: That’s when I walked on those abandoned rollercoasters for the first time.Nara Dreamland: Amazing abandoned amusement park located in Nara.Then, in 2011, I really got more serious, and more professional about it: New Sky Building Warship : an extraordinary apartment complex resembling a warship.Yamanakako Resort & SPG House : 2 hotels close to Mount Fuji.Queen Chateau Soapland : bathhouse with prostitutes.Heian Wedding Hall & Pachinko : place for marriages and pachinko (arcade).Izu Sports World : water park, similar to Aqualand.I started in 2010, and those explores are my first adventures (and therefore, photos aren’t so good, but the excitement is at its maximum): Amusement parks and arcades neglected, abandoned construction sites, forgotten hotels, ghost towns, deserted hospitals and schools… these places are thousands in Japan. Many haikyo (“ ruins” in Japanese) are born in recent years. A playground for enthusiasts of all kinds. A new landscape – post-apocalyptic – takes birth: haikyo world. Two years later, the value of the Nikkei slumped over 50% and since then it has never stopped falling. New factories, apartment buildings, golf courses, amusement park are built … the champagne flows! The speculative bubble, for its part, increases dangerously and eventually explodes on December 29, 1989. Japan boosts its economy vehemently: the loans are made easier, there is a lot of money available, liquidity, and the Japanese have wages 30 to 40% higher than European salaries. Such was the case in Nagano, where I entered a broken residence with a dubious new tenant.The 80’s in Japan. Even if you’re completely sure a residence has been abandoned by its original owner, there may still be some unofficial residents living there. Visiting residential ruins is a line I’ve crossed and regretted. “Whatever you do, don’t get sucked into this,” my wife warned me. As the fear began to wear off, and the photos of my exploration circulated online, I was already thinking about my next destination. But I soon realized that urban exploration is an experience best enjoyed in hindsight. The whole experience was overwhelming to the point I swore I’d never do it again. When I finally reached my destination-a run-down love hotel-an unknown beast in the undergrowth continuously circled the building but never showed itself. As the sun started to go down, the leaves on the ground seemed to stalk me-stopping exactly when I stopped scuttling behind me only when I moved forward. Misjudging the amount of time it would take to get to my location, I ended up walking alone for over an hour down an isolated country road. My first haikyo trip on the outskirts of Saitama prefecture was an embarrassingly paranoid experience. However, for those tempted to venture out on All Hallows’ Eve, I have a number of cautionary tales to share. Over the last six years, I’ve managed to avoid arrest, injury and confrontation. My interest in ruins has taken me to prefectures in Japan I never thought I’d visit, into buildings I was never supposed to enter and have adventures I will never forget. Some stem from tragic, real-life incidents others-like the Himuro Mansion-are pure fantasy. Every major ruin in Japan has its own ghost story or urban legend. If there’s one time of year that’s perfectly suited to the subculture of urban exploration, it’s Halloween. ![]()
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