Gankutsu Hotel
A Western-style cave dwelling carved into a rocky hill in Yoshimi, Saitama, by a farmer named Takahashi Minekichi, who dug it with chisels and other hand tools for 21 years, from 1904 until his death in 1925. Its official name is Gankutsu Hotel Kosokan, but it never operated as lodging; the word 'hotel' is said to come from onlookers who watched him work and remarked that he was 'digging a cave' (gankutsu hotteru). His son carried on the work and sightseers came to visit, but parts collapsed in typhoons in 1982 and 1987 and it was closed. It is now fenced off and entry is prohibited. Part of the exterior can be seen from the shop across the road, which also displays photographs from its active years.
See photos and posts for this place on the LIMap map
Nearby liminal spaces
- Coin Snack Joyful 24 (26 km)
- Metropolitan Area Outer Underground Discharge Channel ("Underground Temple") (35 km)
- Yano Hydroelectric Power Plant (36 km)
- Kirigaoka Central Shopping Street (39 km)
- Rosa Kaikan (43 km)
- Sunshine City Exhibition Hall A (44 km)
LIMap is a map for finding and sharing liminal spaces: places emptied of people that feel eerie and nostalgic at the same time. Many of these places are private or off-limits, so please follow the notes above and view them only from where you are allowed.