Watch "Danmitsu no Inishie" on Netflix Japan

The energy of miners and lively voices of children once filled a mining town. Novelist Junichi Watanabe, a former visiting doctor, talks of its past.

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Deep in the mountains stands an abandoned school. Now only soft sunlight fills the school building that used to resound with children’s voices.

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The Shimizusawa Power Station is scheduled for demolition. It was closed 22 years ago. Yet even today, it still commands an impressive presence.

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At the gradually decaying Horonai Coal Mine, an electrical substation stands regally. It is a magical place where strength and fragility coexist.

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Taiyo Elementary School was built in 1967 but closed after only 4 years. It was later repurposed as a lodging facility, but once again faces closure.

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The Chikubetsu Coal Mine began operation in 1940 and closed in 1970. Since then, the deserted mining town is gradually being reclaimed by nature.

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Once touted as the “top gold mine of the East,” the Konomai Mine is now decaying back into nature. Yet vestiges of the gold rush dreams remain.

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An attractive structure stands at the Konomai Mine that once thrived in the gold rush. Its modern-looking design reminds us of the mine’s heyday.

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The main coal mine of Haboro featured a high-rising tower and cutting-edge computer technology of the time. It was where men worked for their dreams.

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The Imperial Navy radio transmission station stands at Japan’s northern tip. From there a vital coded telegraph was sent, triggering the Pacific War.

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The abandoned residence and studio of the late sculptor Shin Hongo. His spirit still permeates the surprisingly modern house, built 50 years ago.

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In a forest, the Onuma Power Station stands in ruins. It was built in the early 1900s and operated until 1965 to supply electricity to Hakodate.

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In the port town Hakodate, wartime memories lie dormant within Mount Hakodate. The entire mountain was used as a fortress until the end of WWII.

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The Urahoro Coal Mine and most of the buildings from its heyday are gone now, except for the barely standing ruins of three apartment buildings.

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A pillbox enclosure built on the coast in preparation for the landing by the US Army during WWII is falling into decay, without ever having been used.

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Once tremendously productive, the Haboro Coal Mine was suddenly closed down. The joys and disappointments of its people rest in the mine’s ruins.

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An abandoned station on a defunct railroad, built for the purpose of coal mine development and coal transportation. It still stands as if waiting...

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Massive concrete structures suddenly appear in the mountains. Their sheer scale seem to boast of a once flourishing coal mine that existed there.

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Kaminokuni-cho, the birthplace of Hokkaido, has long been deserted. Once the most productive mine in Japan, it is gradually being reclaimed by nature.

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At the oldest shaft mine in Hokkaido that still exists, time passes quietly. The brick shaft structure is a testimony to the people who worked there.

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An abandoned elementary school in Haboro. The school buildings are falling apart, but memories of teachers and children who were here remain strong.

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