15 Abandoned Haikyo Phones

Mike GristBest Of, Haikyo 11 Comments

Even the seasoned haikyoist is wary of haikyo phones- they are one of the myriad unseen dangers of haikyo. Alongside other well-known hazards such as poisonous mushrooms (don`t eat them!), yakuza packing hand-guns (don`t antagonize them!), and saprophytic organisms clouding parasitcally around dead bodies (don`t disturb them!), abandoned phones have the power to kill. They are Frankenstein`s monsters that can rumble to life (dialling tones!) at the most unexpected of times. Imagine walking into a morgue, starting an autopsy on a cadaver, then having that body leap up and start strangling you. *shudders* A dead phone should stay dead. 1 …

Top 10 Haikyo 2010

Mike GristBest Of 32 Comments

Common wisdom says Japan is a tiny island nation crammed from shore to shore with people living one on top of the other. Every bit of spare space is used to build Prius factories and grow rice. In actuality, though, there are far more dark spots on the map than you’d imagine. The general view that every square inch of land is worth a bazillion dollars is just not true. There are gaps in the facade that whole towns have fallen into, along with bizarre abandoned theme parks, ruined U.S. Air Force bases, and the tawdry remnants of pay-by-the-hour love …

Top 5 Japanese Ghost Towns

Mike GristBest Of, Ghost Towns 17 Comments

Common wisdom about Japan says it’s a tiny island with a serious premium on space, leading to real estate prices in the cities higher even than the most exclusive blocks of Manhattan. The thought that there might be whole abandoned towns on this island seems a paradox- how could a country with so little space abandon anything? Well, they do. Most ghost towns in Japan are built around mines, like abandoned gold rush towns in the American West. When the mine seams gave out the jobs went away and the people left. Soon, the place was abandoned. Here are 5 …

Top 5 Ruins of the Sex Industry

Mike GristBest Of, Sex Industry 4 Comments

In ruins the hidden secrets of sex are laid bare. All our most intimate truths come out in the wash. The den of our fornication will rot and mold will form on the sheets where we grunted out our last passions. Sex. In life, as in death, it’s a messy business. Here are five ruined dens of sex from around Japan. 1. The Akasaka Love Hotel ‘Love Hotels’ are a lot like roadside motels, designed with the express purpose of facilitating ‘relations’ between Japanese couples who still live at home, and have no access to a bedroom away from their …

Top 10 Haikyo 2009

Mike GristBest Of 15 Comments

Haikyoing is kind of an addiction. Every time I get back from a long haikyo weekend, trudging through dusty overgrown schoolhouses and factories, I say to myself- ‘that’ll do, pig’. But then a few weeks or months later I’m always out there again, doing much the same thing, striving for a more authentic experience, a more exciting explore, more mind-blowing shots. Sometimes I get it and sometimes I don’t, and resultingly sometimes the articles I post here find a larger audience and sometimes they don’t. Here you can find the most popular posts of the year, sorted not by me …