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The Lost World: I Took Pictures Of The Magically Desolate Places Of Japan (22 Pics)
Did you know that 13,6% of all buildings in Japan are empty, according to the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications? I do now - I was shocked to find empty place after empty place, as I am from a country that has a dire shortage of housing (Netherlands). I was intrigued and obsessively started to photograph everything I encountered while traveling from Hokkaido to Hiroshima.
It took me a while but these photos and this adventure is being printed into a book at the moment. For more info click here.
More info: maanlimburg.com | Facebook | Instagram
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#1
Final score:
35points
barbie me 3 years ago
I wish we knew why these places were apparently deserted without emptying them first. I mean, there is still a mostly full bottle of alcohol, places settings, etc. What caused them to just leave??
Makoto Fletcher 3 years ago
Well hell! Labels,. What, when and where? We're supposed to know everything???
Eli Fisher 3 years ago
Just imagine all the smiles and lighthearted conversations that once took place at these tables.
These photos were all taken over the span of two months in 2018 and 2019 and from all across Japan. I could not resist capturing these desolate places when we drove pas them, always taking care to respect the places we found.
These empty buildings, usually referred to as Akiya, are a big problem in Japan and there's a lot of different reasons for them - ranging from cultural, political and of course, the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011. In my book, these will be explained a bit more - and in the accompanying exhibition you will be invited to experience the locations a bit more with smell, sound and images.
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#2
Final score:
28points
*Displayname*=idk 3 years ago
I want some of the screens In one room of my future house. Like a Japanese themed room.(because that is where I want to visit and explore)
Shyla Clay 3 years ago
Not if you have cats. There's a pic of two enjoying the shoji doors their humans bought them.
Load More Replies... #3
Final score:
27points
*Displayname*=idk 3 years ago
I always wonder the backstory of what could have happened. What about yall?
Maan Limburg (Submission author) 3 years ago
This was a bankrupt Pachinko hall, right above Tokyo. In Japan it's more common to leave everything once it's bankrupt. I once found a deserted pachinko hall next to a NEW, working pachinko parlour.
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Blue Jade Rare 3 years ago
looks like a pachinko parlor, some natural disaster happened and they all rushed and then it shut down. Wonder what happened to the money
There's something sad but also something inherently beautiful in all of these abandoned places. And the overwhelming amount of them; people are quick to think these are all from Fukushima (which some are) but most of them are really from all over Japan.
#4
Final score:
26points
AstorDaPanda 3 years ago
woah woah woah woah WOAH. if id see that in the dark, being alone id freak out... creepy:]
#5
Final score:
25points
Jan Eivroc 3 years ago
Somebody must have lived and died here alone. If not, the possibility that everybody just left everything is highly likely but not uncommon.
If somebody would go "wow, there's beauty in this sadness" - that's pretty much what I'm hoping for. The images are a reflection of stillness, of the beauty in decay - I'd love for people to stop and wonder what went on there - about the now worthless memories and trinkets that once were somebody's life. It's surreal and real at the same time. There's a form of magic in places like this to me. And I hope I can share my wonder with them.
#6
Final score:
24points
Shyla Clay 3 years ago
All joking aside, it would be interesting to know.
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#7
Final score:
18points
april jenkins 3 years ago
The Voice on channel 7 or Top Gun on channel 9...
Load More Replies... Jan Eivroc 3 years ago
I know it's eerie but you'll have to pay for the disposal of bulky and electronic items like this one.
Geeki Nikki 3 years ago
If that's a creepiest thing you encountered in a forest in Japan I think you're doing OK. Re: Aokigahara.
Load More Replies...Photography is my way of expressing myself, the tool of my trade, my ticket to meet new people and go new places - my way to never stop being curious and a way to show others my thoughts and feelings. It's a never-ending exploration, which I love.
#8
Final score:
17points
Rebecca Broscombe-Adams 3 years ago
Those chandeliers, oh my. Just bought a house fitted with chandeliers everywhere and those look cleaner :D
Maan Limburg (Submission author) 3 years ago
haha I'd hope it would be cleaner haha
Load More Replies... #9
Final score:
17points
#10
Final score:
17points
Nancy Copus Williams 3 years ago
For me, the feelings expressed in the pictures can be heard by Cass Elliot singing A Room Without Windows.
Nancy Copus Williams 3 years ago
For me, the feelings created in these pictures are expressed by Cass Elliot singing A Room Without Windows.
Maan Limburg (Submission author) 3 years ago
I'm curious, I'll check it out!
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#11
Final score:
17points
#12
Final score:
13points
KC Lancaster 3 years ago
So odd "scrappers" haven't come by to recycle the metal parts on the outside of the buildings. I'm just thinking that as someone who's into recycling. I believe the Japanese to be very much into that as well...?
Maan Limburg (Submission author) 3 years ago
Actually, I found a general sense of ownership to be way more important there than recycling - if it's not yours you don't touch it.
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#13
Final score:
13points
#14
Final score:
11points
Maan Limburg (Submission author) 3 years ago
It's a industrial printer :)
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#15
Final score:
11points
#16
Final score:
11points
#17
Final score:
11points
Shyla Clay 3 years ago
It would be neat to restore. Well, it would be neat for someone else to restore.
GlassHalfWay 3 years ago
So many families displaced, losing their homes. Such observable sadness
#18
Final score:
9points
Spiral Agent 3 years ago
They died to be left aside like trash. How pathetic those hunters were.
#19
Final score:
9points
#20
Final score:
8points
Maan Limburg (Submission author) 3 years ago
This was a deserted restaurant on Hokkaido, I think it went bankrupt years ago...
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#21
Final score:
8points
#22
Final score:
7points
Jill McElroy 3 years ago
The blue box is a portal to another dimension. The ladder is a decoy.
Load More Replies... Add New Image
What do you think ?
Briana Kessler 3 years ago
I expected dinosaurs lol. But these images are great. I just pretended they had dinosaurs.
Maan Limburg (Post author) 3 years ago
hahaha, the places felt like there could be dinosaurs! Good to see you got the reference haha
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jessica johns 3 years ago
Google pay 97$ per hour my last pay check was $8500 working 1o hours a week online. My younger brother friend has been averaging 12k for months now and he works about 22 hours a week. I cant believe how easy it was once I d it outit.. HERE ?? copy the link.... 𝐰𝐰𝐰.𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐛𝐳.𝐜𝐨𝐦
Load More Replies...
Xenon 3 years ago
An explanation of what we’re looking at would be nice. Or where it was taken.
RoseTheMad 3 years ago
I assume that the majority of these photos were taken within the exclusion/disaster zone of the Fukushima reactor explosion after the earthquake back in 2011. Japanese Chernobyl, basically.
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David Schrade 3 years ago
Somehow, these just don't click with me. Usually, I'm fairly receptive to lost places photography, but this... Doesn't do anything. Nothing interesting or captivating is captured. I am a bit disappointed.
Briana Kessler 3 years ago
I expected dinosaurs lol. But these images are great. I just pretended they had dinosaurs.
Maan Limburg (Post author) 3 years ago
hahaha, the places felt like there could be dinosaurs! Good to see you got the reference haha
Load More Replies... jessica johns 3 years ago
Google pay 97$ per hour my last pay check was $8500 working 1o hours a week online. My younger brother friend has been averaging 12k for months now and he works about 22 hours a week. I cant believe how easy it was once I d it outit.. HERE ?? copy the link.... 𝐰𝐰𝐰.𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐛𝐳.𝐜𝐨𝐦
Load More Replies... Xenon 3 years ago
An explanation of what we’re looking at would be nice. Or where it was taken.
RoseTheMad 3 years ago
I assume that the majority of these photos were taken within the exclusion/disaster zone of the Fukushima reactor explosion after the earthquake back in 2011. Japanese Chernobyl, basically.
Load More Replies... David Schrade 3 years ago
Somehow, these just don't click with me. Usually, I'm fairly receptive to lost places photography, but this... Doesn't do anything. Nothing interesting or captivating is captured. I am a bit disappointed.
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