The mining ghost town of Matsuo, Japan

Here’s another article for those that enjoy ghost towns and urban exploring.  It’s a little town by the name of Matsuo, located in northern Japan.  Once this area was prosperous and the town housed a population of around 15,000 people.  For the last 40 years, however, not a soul has lived here, leaving the abandoned remains of several apartment buildings.

The original town was built up to support a sulfur mine that opened up way back in 1914.  This was, in fact, the largest sulfur mine in all of East Asia.  The operation lasted in 1969, at which point the mine was closed and the workers, along with their families, moved on to other places.  During its time, more than 4000 workers lived in Matsuo, along with their families.

Now, the remains of 11 apartment blocks sit atop this mountain region, shrouded in mist so thick that people often have a hard time finding the place.  Devoid of life, these abandoned shells of another time provide a reflection of the lives that were once lived here.  Each building is four stories tall and designed in a very systematic and functional way.  There are rooms for every purpose that an industrial population might need - single workers, married workers and workers with families.

Since its abandonment, the apartment blocks have begun to fall to the encroachment of the surrounding woods.  Both the interior and exterior of the buildings have nature creeping in to fill the cracks.  Now they are just one more manmade ruin inching forward to their permanent demise.  This combination of nature and structure makes for some amazing photo opportunities, such as these pictures taken by one urban explorer of Japanese ruins.

Visiting the site can, however, be a bit of a challenge.  As I already mentioned, the misty mountains can obscure vision and make it difficult to actually find Matsuo.  If you’re an urban explorer though, it’s well worth the effort.  Just make sure to be careful, as the apartments haven’t exactly seen much upkeep in the last 50 years or so.

Apartments on ridge photo courtesy of haikyo.org