Left to Rot

Now here's something interesting for you. Now, I have said how Japan is amazingly crowded, crammed into big cities as a result of the mountainous terrain. You would assume, then, that no space would be left wasted, right? Wrong!

Abandoned places are a personal interest of mine, as even beautiful places are often just left to decay. The fact that even Japan, where space is at a premium, would just toss aside perfectly usable space is incredible! The above shot is a picture of the so-called "Gunkan Apaato", or "Battleship Apartments". This was a large group of apartment buildings near Nipponbashi in Osaka, nicknamed "battleship" due to the unusual chimney structures on the roof. From what I have heard, they were built in the 30s and were said to be the oldest concrete structures left standing in Japan. I would assume the "left standing" was there to indicate that there had been others, and I am guessing those probably were destroyed by US bombing in World War II. Unfortunately, I can't seem to track down the date of abandonment, but I recall it having been for a rather significant amount of time, which would seem strange considering the lack of available space. You'll notice, however, that I have been using past tense. Yes, as of the spring/summer of 2007, the buildings have been leveled, surely to make space for a more modern structure. I was fortunate enough to have been able to visit there a number of times to take pictures, and just enjoy the atmosphere, but even on my first visit the actual buildings were already barricaded and boarded. A passerby was kind enough to try and help me get to the rooftop of one of the nearby high-rise apartments so that I could see the namesake chimneys, but unfortunately the landlord caught us and made us leave (I blame the camera in the elevator). What was funny, though, was that the guy who tried to help me actually asked me a few questions about the old apartments. I ended up trying to climb the stairs of a nearby shorter building, but unfortunately the rooftop was locked on that one, so I never did get a shot of the top.

I ended up running into a few abandoned houses and shacks elsewhere, which was fun. When I went to Kobe (west of Osaka) to visit a friend of mine who is teaching English there, we stumbled upon one on a walk in the mountains. On our way back down, we went through a small residential area where we found a rusty, unsturdy bridge leading to a small shrine and an abandoned house. It was fairly obviously abandoned, considering the doors were all collapsing, books were left rotting, and there were far too many spiders for comfort. There didn't seem to be any signs of homeless people living there, so aside from mold, various crawling and slithering creatures and collapsed flooring, it seemed pretty safe to go inside. I can't really judge just how long it had been abandoned, but they sure must have left in a hurry. There were a number of little trinkets lying around, a few old New Years decorations, quite a few books and magazines. I would love to have known the story behind it.

I actually went out to the countryside once in order to track down a few abandoned amusement parks, of which there are a surprising number in Japan. Unfortunately, I ended up taking the wrong train and wasted a pretty long time getting there, so I never was able to track them down. Well, that's not entirely true, as taking the wrong train actually led me to one of them, but it was in the middle of the city. I figured that, being a foreigner, trying to sneak into an abandoned amusement park in the middle of a city on a weekend would not be an easy task. Granted, I wasn't that close, so I couldn't really judge, but I didn't want to risk it. Instead, I tried to go for the easy pickings (or what I thought was easy pickings). I had heard of one that was on the edge of a golf course, left to be consumed by nature. When I finally got on the right train and made it, I wandered my way there. Finding the golf course, I didn't see anywhere they could be hiding an amusement park. This is where I made my mistake. Seeing that the map was indicating it was on the far side of the golf course, and not wanting to risk sneaking through the country club, I walked the road, assuming it would go around. Well, it did. Sort of. Only, I forgot to take into account that the world is 3D, and the area was in the mountains. Very big mistake. I wandered the road for a good hour before deciding I should probably make my way back. Interestingly enough, I met an old man who was walking the opposite direction who asked me where the closest station was. I guess I just look knowledgeable.

Upon returning to the entrance of the country club, I decided that, given the effort I had put out to find this place, I wasn't going to give up. Yes, I snuck up the service roads around the golf course, attempting to make sure I wasn't seen. What can I say, it was a lot of fun. I got sidetracked a couple times, as there were a few paths into the forest that had "no trespassing" signs and what choice did I have but to explore? It was unfortunate that I never did find the amusement park (though I have seen pictures), but it was a great experience. I did end up being seen by at least one person as I was leaving, as they were driving out as I was making my way back to the entrance. I just did my best to look clueless, turning around as they drove by and offering a little wave of my hand. Not entirely unsurprisingly, they didn't stop, but I made my way out all the quicker since I had been spotted. I did stumble upon a few abandoned cars, full of various personal effects and now overgrown with plantlife.

Nearby I also found a few piles of abandoned children's backpacks and toys. I tried not to look too deeply into that as I walked back to the train station, sun long since set.