Beautiful Abandon

I remember seeing these stunning images of abandoned amusement parks in Japan, on the interwebs a couple years ago and I wish I had remembered them before my trip to J-pan last year; it would have been surreal to visit this in person. There’s something so hauntingly beautiful and sad about these photos.

My mom said a lot of these abandoned parks/buildings were created for mining boomtowns that are now defunct. It’s amazing that some artifacts — beds, computers, shoes, hospital equipment, comic books, posters, backpacks, and even food, etc — still remain, all while slowly being enveloped by the surrounding foliage.

{Be sure to visit this site for more photos + locations — you can google-translate it, but the translation isn’t accurate} :

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abandoned_amusement_park_oukoku_japan{While on the shinkansen - Japanese bullet train - to Kyoto, I could have sworn I saw this little amusement park outside my window, minus strapped-down Gulliver; I had no idea it was abandoned. Eerie yet sad.}

Abandoned Hospital Clinic
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abandoned_clinic_oshima_japan4{Straw from what used to be a mattress}

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abandoned_hospital_japan{pharmacy}

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Abandoned Business Building {modeled to resemble a Tea House}
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abandoned_kanagawa_momijien3{can you believe these beautiful linens were just left there?}

abandoned_kanagawa_momijien4{apparently the building was a call center}

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abandoned_hotel_sasa_japan{pachinko machines from a hotel lobby}


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{the plants in Japan grow like mad-crazy if left unattended}

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{Photos via here}

{2 Responses}

  1. jenel Says:

    I used to lived in Japan.
    Yes, its sad but I’m sure they’re often visited by wanderlust’ers
    How I would love to have visit the abandoned hospital clinic. I would take all of the lab/pharmacy stuff in there but its considered -very, very bad luck. :(
    A wonderful anime movie to watch ‘Spirit Away’ about a young girl visiting a abandon amusement park. :)

  2. Vintage Mint Says:

    I’m right there with you about those lab/pharmacy bottles. It’s funny that you pointed out how taking things from an abandoned place (let alone a hospital) is very bad luck. As my Japanese mother has repeatedly affirmed this, Japanese culture is very superstitious: sticking your chopsticks straight down into your bowl/food (bad luck; mocking the dead); if you see a snake when you’re pregnant, your child will have toe-thumbs; stepping on the outer corners of a tatami (bad luck); etc. I’ve seen Spirited Away and it was pretty overwhelming (story-wise, magic-realism is SO different than “western literature”) but these images totally reminded me of that movie, too! Thanks for the comment Jenel ! :)

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