Relics of the Keishin Hospital 2. HDR

Keishin Hospital was once a pre-eminent site of super high-tech radiology equipment, leading the charge as Japan raced into the modern era. Some 2o years ago that dream fell by the way-side though, and the place was left to the vandals. They tore out everything that could be torn out, leaving only a few metal fixtures too heavily stapled down.

Then came the taggers, followed by the true grafitti artists, and the young people shooting documentaries, and the cosplay kids playing truant from school. Keishin has a whole other life, now that it’s dead. In this part we’ll look mostly at what once was. In the second part we’ll look at what is now.

Foreboding approach to Keishin Hospital.

As is the case with all this latest run of haikyo, this was my second stab at the Keishin Hospital. I first came around 2 years ago, in late evening, and rushed around with my puny camera phone shooting the awesome wealth of graffiti on the walls as best I could with its meager flash. I ended up on the roof far after night had fallen, terrified and loving the thrill. I saw no ghosts but had a few close encounters with spookily rendered figures on doors swinging towards me in the wind (shudders at the memory). See that post here.

I went back with my more upscale gear hoping to capture the essence of the place more accurately, by day. I ran into a group of student film-makers on the 5th floor and roof, shooting a horror film.

“What are you shooting?” I asked.

“A horror film.”

I looked around the roof-top, in bright sunshine.

“Isn’t that better to shoot at night?”

“It’s not that kind of horror film. It’s like Battle Royale.”

“Ah, I see. Well, good luck.”

It was strange to run into such a large group in a haikyo. Normally in those places there’s a kind of bond shared between explorers enforced by the unusual circumstances. But since there were so many of them, and they were so ensconced in shooting, they kind of set up a bubble of their own space within the mutual space that I felt awkward walking through. I grinned and went on by. The two kids I asked about the film were on the roof guarding their gear, where the normal vibe remained.

Defaced dentist’s room.

The wall separating this place from reality.

Take a seat, make yourself comfortable.

Is this your bike?

Looking out of ruins, to mountains.

The entrance, pond clogged with trash.

One ward, every wall half torn through.

I was awed to discover surgical lamps remaining in one room, three of them at once. I immediately thought back to my travails at the Nichitsu Doctor’s office, searching for the one great eye of Sauron surgical lamp, only to find it had been stolen. Years of waiting, then along came three all at once. Wow. Beautiful, if a bit battered. I guess it was too dark the last time I came by, and I never even knew they were there.

3 eyes of Sauron look upon you.

2 and their operating table.

An ominous roof-top.

FACTFILE

Entry – Easy, straight in.

Highlights – Grafitti, film-makers, mountains, memories.

RUINS / HAIKYO

You can see all MJG’s Ruins / Haikyo explorations here:

[album id=4 template=compact]