Michael John Grist » Haikyo

Relics of Camp Drake in Saitama, Japan

MJG — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 02:20:16 +0000

Camp Drake was a joint US Army/Air Force base in Saitama, active until the 1970`s. It contained a hospital which handled troops coming out of Vietnam and also a communications array. Now about half of it remains, an overgrown jungle with only a few remaining buildings set back behind several layers of fencing. The other [...]

Izu roadside haikyo

MJG — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 00:33:13 +0000

Here`s a haikyo I chanced upon almost a year ago in Izu, while haikyoing with Mike (and Jason?). It`s not particularly awesome in any way, it just has some nice peeling red and white paint, and a cool Coke fridge. Front yard. A small cafeteria area. Comfy wicker chairs. Red and white Coke with peeling [...]

Izu’s abandoned Jungle theme Park #3 souvenirs

MJG — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 23:46:15 +0000

Across the road from Jungle Park was this smashed-up restaurant/souvenir shop. I`ll guess it wasn`t actually connected to the theme park, though it probably survived on the tourists who came there. Inside it felt inhabited, with clothes hanging on rails to dry, but I didn't run into anyone.

Izu’s abandoned Jungle theme Park #2 inside

MJG — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 01:46:43 +0000

Jungle Park was easily the biggest green-house I've ever been in, and boy was it hot inside. H-O-T. And very humid. Within minutes I was soaked to the skin, and any time I had to climb something I was panting with the exertion. You can probably see that on the video a few times.

Izu’s abandoned Jungle theme Park #1 outside

MJG — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 06:15:39 +0000

Izu’s Jungle Park is an immense abandoned green house, an indoor botanical garden sheltering nearly 10,000 square meters worth of sweltering tropical habitat. It was built in 1969, and its peak of operation came in 1973 when it received 750,000 visitors per year. By 2003 over 10 million people had passed through its vast and [...]

Ruin of the White Root Mine

MJG — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 00:34:08 +0000

The White Root mine is old, so old that only the faintest outlines of its bones remain. Squint hard and you might see fragments of its ribcage scattered over the hillside, parts of a cracked skull just visible through the topsoil. Once it must have been huge, swathing up and down the valley and pumping [...]