Ruins / Haikyo

Queen Chateau Soapland Haikyo, Ibaraki

Aug 15th, 2008 • Ruins / Haikyo

The Queen Chateau Soapland Haikyo in Mito, Ibaraki, is at once a grand but squalid folly. A bath-based brothel rising 5 fairy-tale stories into the sky, cornered with towers and capped with bright red tile, it represents an era gone mad with indulgence, audacity, and hopefulness. Now it lies in crippled ruin, its bright colors fading, its halycon days of glamor and glitz surplanted by ghost-like hangings in its dim and dusty bars. Its grand playing-card Queen still stands aloft emblazoned across the front of the building, but her stare is now more that of the toothless Ozymandius than a haughty mademoiselle.

Toyo Bowl Haikyo, Kanagawa

Jul 22nd, 2008 • Ruins / Haikyo

The Toyo Bowl in Kanagawa was built some time in the 90’s and abandoned (haikyo) around 1999 when the mother company went bankrupt. It had 108 bowling lanes spread over 3 huge floors, a large pachinko hall, restaurants, gift shops, arcades, and a kid creche. It boasted ‘natural lighting’ and ‘beautiful blue carpets’ on all floors.

Keishin Hospital Haikyo, Kanagawa

Jun 17th, 2008 • Featured Article, Maps, Photos, Ruins / Haikyo

The Keishin Hospital in Kanagawa is one of the more mysterious haikyo I’ve done in Japan, in that despite all my best online searching I still couldn’t find out a thing about it besides a few web-pages showing it in increasing states of dis-array. I first learned about it from my haikyo book, which of course I barely understand, and just decided to go because it was within a day-trip’s distance.

Negishi Racecourse Haikyo, Yokohama

Jun 9th, 2008 • Maps, Photos, Ruins / Haikyo, Video

The Negishi Racecourse Grandstand in Yokohama was built in 1930 and abandoned (became a haikyo) some time after the second world war, when it was surrendered to the occupying American Armed forces. It has lain fairly dormant since that time, a great grand reminder of the halcyon days before the war, though now boarded up and double-fenced, with a flood-lit U.S. Navy Base right next to it.

Sports World Haikyo, Izu

Jun 3rd, 2008 • Featured Article, Photos, Ruins / Haikyo, Video

Sports World in Izunagaoka was built in 1988, in the heyday of the Bubble, and abandoned (became a haikyo) in 1993 as the Bubble burst. It has lain untended for 15 years. I read about it in my haikyo (ruins) guidebook, took Googlemaps snapshots with me, and headed out via Shinkansen to see if it was still there.

Mining Town Haikyo, Saitama

May 29th, 2008 • Ruins / Haikyo

We woke up Saturday morning early enough for the breakfast service at our Toyoko Inn, keen to take on some good haikyo fuel. It was terrible though, just different flavors of onigiri (rice ball) that didn’t even have anything (tuna, salmon, veggies) inside them.

So we supplied up at a Mr. Donut. They actually sell savory things as well as donuts.

Then we set off for our final target- an abandoned mining town in Saitama. Mike had done some research on this, and was psyched about a doctor’s office there, relatively intact. I was keen to see a real ghost town.

It wasn’t easy to get there. The sat-nav (navi-chan) took us on a route that led to a closed road, with signs out front barring entry.

Volcano Museum Haikyo, Gunma

May 29th, 2008 • Photos, Ruins / Haikyo

We left the Kappa Pia haikyo at around noon, so we had plenty of time left for further explorations. Our next target was an abandoned volcano museum, number 40 on my guidebooks list of top 100 haikyo in east Japan. It was built on the slopes of an ‘active’ volcano, up in the mountainous top-left (north-west) corner of Gunma, about 100km from Kappa Pia.

We checked the maps, programmed the sat-nav, ate junk food from a convenience store, then got going.

The road soon started to ascend into the mountains. We saw snow on the ground, and it got cold outside. We had some great vistas, of dams, futuristic looking bridges, spreads over the landscape, but we didn’t stop to take photos for a while, eager to make good time.

Eventually, when we buzzed past great views and abandoned-looking tunnels/buildings often enough, we decided to stop and take a look. So, we stopped to take a look at this abandoned tunnel:

Kappa Pia Theme Park Haikyo, Saitama

May 28th, 2008 • Photos, Ruins / Haikyo, Video

Haikyo is a Japanese word that means ‘ruins’. It can be used in combination with English, ie- ‘do a haikyo’- which would mean go explore some ruined buildings. Or at least, that’s how I use it.

I’ve always been fascinated by ruined buildings and abandoned places. When I was 14 I went to the ancient city of Pompeii in Italy, and was blown away. It’s hard to explain why- but it’s something about the life of the place, and the lives of the people who were there, being suddenly cut short. Whether they were killed, driven out, or just moved on, the things they leave behind tell the story of their life at that moment, a snapshot captured and crystallized like a fossil.