Overgrown Toyota at Tama Lake

Mike Grist Cars, Haikyo, Tokyo-to 10 Comments

The last time I went to the Akasaka Love Hotel on Lake Tama was November 2008. Winter was just setting in and had not yet sloughed away the summer`s ripe vegetation, meaning that this gorgeous neglected Toyota was mostly buried in foliage.

I took a few shots of it scraggled with greenery but they didn`t stand out. Now winter reveals its pale bones, most of them broken backwards and jiggling loosely on rusted hinges.

A Toyota.

SY and I cycled here from Tokyo, the same as I did the first time I came. It was an 80km round trip with 4 hours spent in the saddle. We also checked out the Red Blossom Restaurant, and another love hotel on the same strip called The Hotel Queen. I`ll put those up shortly.

Somebody climbed up.

Somebody called out- “Fight the Power!”

See the rest of the haikyo I`ve been to in the galleries:

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Comments 10

  1. Love the shot of the windscreen draped over the wheel and the wide angle shot of the front of the car.

    Not however a fan of the two “action” shots at the end, I can’t help but think that this could be part of the reason why some people take objection to your exploration style. Seems a bit too much like it could be perceived to be damaging to the scenery not to mention a little dangerous.

    Never the less I look forward to seeing your new reports of the other Haikyo in the area.

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    Hi Adam, thanks on the shots you liked, and about the ones you didn`t-

    I wouldn`t want to argue the point with you, as it`s all perspective and I don`t want to convince you of mine, though I`d like you to know that it is not my intention to damage the scenery or be unusually dangerous.

    I added those photos in for a bit of fun, really. I didn`t see any harm in climbing on the car, nor really any danger, but can respect you might differ.

    Either way, I don`t often post shots of myself goofing around in haikyo, so hopefully it`s not something we`ll have to differ over too much.

  3. @Adam — I don’t really know how one can further damage a car in the above condition, so seems a bit of an over statement on your part that just standing on the hood of the car could be perceived as damaging, never mind dangerous! Are you one of these new 21st Century hyper-safe people that never take risks and are thus hardly alive? If so let me recommend the excellent Clash song “Death or Glory,” then you’ll know how people that are really alive like I am live their lives.

    Check this classic Jacked-in page out to see me jumping over a canyon!

    http://www.jasoncollin.org/mesaverdepage03.html

    That’s what’s called living.

    Now the one thing I can observe is that obviously Grist either opened or closed the hood of the car because in the first photos the hood is open and he is later photographed standing on the closed hood. If that freaks you out, again, reread my comment from the beginning.

    Unless you want people to enter haikyo in one of those white quarantine haz-med suits and not even use flash in the haikyo to keep it as pristine (as pristine as a destroyed place can be!) as possible.

    Grist, why not using your SB-600 for some of these shots?

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  5. Hmm… not sure you guys really understood the tone of my message there. If you re-read what I wrote you will notice that I said that it ‘could’ be the reason ‘some’ people take objection.

    Me personally I don’t mind either way, I explore abandoned buildings here in the UK and only last week had to swing around the outside of a fence dangling 10 feet above the Thames to gain entry. However there is a moto with the urbex people here in the UK that goes along the lines of “We don’t care how you get in just don’t tell us”. For this reason I would never post a photo of me gaining entry. Now while I am not saying you had to do anything wrong or damaging to gain entry to a parked car all I am saying is posting photos of you could be part of the reason you get some negative comments here and there.

    Then again maybe it could be you and your friends taking offence at people who are only trying to contribute to your great site and offer an opinion.

    @ Jason – Congratulations, you jumped over a 3 foot gap and listen to the clash. You are correct, that totally gives you the right to judge the way other people live their lives if they don’t meet your stringent standards. All there is to life is to test the limits and see if you can avoid injury or death. Can you see the rest of us from way up there on your pedestal?

    I’m sorry that my off hand comment has led to this but fear not I will hold my tongue in the future.

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    Adam- OK, now I get it- I suppose the bit where you said you weren`t a fan of the photos in question pushed me to think you agreed with the opinions you were suggesting. Either way is fine with me, but point taken. Some urbexers/haikyoists think moving anything around, standing on anything, or describing entry is profane. I guess I don`t wholly agree with that, you neither it seems, but I wouldn`t want to argue with them over it either.

    As for Jason`s comments, he did say `if` in the bits that were challenging, like `if you think this, then..` I don`t think the ifs apply to you though, so hopefully you won`t take offense. I appreciate your input on this site, and hope you won`t feel the need to hold your tongue in the future.

  7. With regard to those Love Hotels, you might notice they have almost all the porn tapes missing – rather rare and unusual don’t you think?

    If you go again, take the northern approach around the Lake (ie: turn right where the road splits near the station). As the side loop road branches off left, drop into the valley below.

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    Paul- Porn tapes, hmm, I hadn`t noticed that. do they usually stock them?

    As for the right turn, we`d wanted to go all the way round the lake, but didn`t have time. Are there more haikyo, or just a nice view/ride?

  9. Not at all.

    There were plenty of flowers in bloom when I took a walk around there so I was continually peeking over the side of the fence to see them, and got a surprise when at one turn I saw mountains of VHS tapes. Ill hazard a guess that these were from the local abandoned hotels, strewn through the woods. At first glance, it looks like they were thrown from the road above, but I dunno, they kinda form a kinda trail leading off into the distance. Plain bizarre.

    Didin’t follow the trail but I took a crappy but downright unusual photo of the porn breadcrumb path leading off into darkness.

  10. Hi. Sorry for bothering you, just one stupid 😉 question. Is there any possibility to get such emblem like the one on front grille? Trying to find on ebay – no success so far. 🙁 Thank you.

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