If you need to pry open a door or window to enter, it is breaking and entering. A lot of potential problems will be solved if you get permission to enter the ruin first. It’s risky, and that’s part of the charm. Always bring a friend and a fully-charged cell phone. Dark-colored clothing is especially useful if you need to hide from disapproving neighbors. Some explorers use dust masks or respirators. Wear a Japanese medical mask if you’re worried about asbestos or mold. When exploring a haikyo, you should bring a camera with a good flash, lantern, flashlight, fedora/whip combo (only if you want) and good shoes. Mortuary Tablets at the Scam Temple in the Hills-picture by a local urban explorer. Haikyo temple hidden in the hills-Closed down due to scam operations, it has an otherworldly feel. If wandering obake is your fear, you might need a different hobby. A little superstitious? Maybe, but remember The Grudge took place in an abandoned house. This is apparently a good way to subvert on-coming curses. He ended up throwing the charms away to make her happy. She claimed he’d be cursed if he kept the charms. He proudly showed his Japanese girlfriend, who proceeded to yell at him. Once one of my haikyo-explorer friends took a few charms from an abandoned temple. Why? It’s just in case, in case he’s wrong. He claims to not believe in ghosts, yet he would never venture into abandoned temples or forgotten hospitals. One of my Japanese friends is a scientist. Potential ghosts are a real, modern-day fear. Japan is an interesting mix of the technologically advanced and traditional. “Oh, I would never go there” is the answer I get from most Japanese people when I mention urban exploration. Other local haikyo: abandoned wedding hall- Although in the middle of nowhere, you can see how the wedding hall was once a fashionable place. You have to work for your abandoned pirate ships, gold and water slides. The Goonies wouldn’t have been very exciting if One-Eyed Jack had painted a giant arrow on the side of the cliff by the beach. It’s not a challenge if the information is handed to you. A lot of the Japanese sites even have maps and addresses. Japanese urban explorers seem to be more willing to share information. You’ll have more luck poking around the Japanese haikyo forums. Also, these photographers don’t want their hard sought-after photos to become ubiquitous on the web. Lots of tourists mean more graffiti, pocketed souvenirs, stolen furniture and chained up doors. Veterans fear the spots will be overrun with casual thrill-seekers. At worst, you’ll see your haikyo dreams crash and burn while your pleas for assistance go unanswered. These sites rarely give you any useful information for finding the haikyo stunningly displayed their photos. There are an endless number of haikyo photography sites in English. Looking online can be a frustrating experience. They are only available in Japanese, so dust off your Japanese dictionary. These books list the best haikyo spots in Japan complete with maps. If you are serious about the hobby, you might want to invest in the haikyo-goers bible, 廃墟本 (Haikyo-hon): The Ruins Book series. Sometimes you get lucky and stumble upon one. Queen Chateau – by Susan Thomas Where can I find haikyo?įinding a good haikyo spot isn’t easy. We gazed at it from across the street at the massive, grinning queen of hearts. The Chateau – like many haikyo – has a kind of haunting beauty. It was closed for hiring illegal foreign workers. Down the street from a party I attended was one of the most famous haikyo in Ibaraki: the Queen Chateau love hotel. I was first introduced to haikyo by chance. This calling card was found on the floor of the Queen’s Chateau by one of the local haikyo explorers. What if you go into a Haikyo and find… your name? Grab your camera and sense of adventure start exploring the hidden side of Japan while you can. Haikyo may be endangered if new government regulations make their way into law. Not that this is a bad thing for the urban explorers. Even if property owners want to renovate the older structures, strict housing regulations can create impossible barriers. The tax system makes it difficult to demolish aging buildings, so property owners to leave them to rot. Buying new homes in Japan is more popular than renovating older ones. But Japan accumulates old buildings for many reasons. When the economy bust in the 1980s, many love hotels, attractions and homes were deserted. Japan is a hidden haikyo wonderland, just waiting to be uncovered. Intrepid haikyo-seekers never know what they’ll find. This unconventional hobby is especially popular in Japan. It’s the exciting subculture of discovering and photographing overgrown temples, failed amusement parks and dilapidated schools. Haikyo, meaning ruins or abandoned buildings in Japanese, is synonymous with urban exploration.
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