Takimi Bridge
Kinugawa Onsen, in Nikko, Tochigi. In this valley hot spring town, once crowded with tour groups, lies a landscape left behind by the fever of the bubble era.
Looking across the gorge from the bridge, you see closed hot spring inns crowded one above another on the opposite slope. Their windows are broken, the lettering on their signs has faded, and ivy is quietly creeping over their walls. The banquet halls and open-air baths that must once have been full of tour groups are now visited only by the wind that blows through the valley.
The sound of the Kinugawa River, the river mist rising in the morning, and the huge silent buildings on the far bank: prosperity and decline fit within the same frame here, a view particular to this place. The bridge itself is a public thoroughfare, and its greatest appeal is that you can take in the whole scene from a safe distance without setting foot in the ruins across the river.
That such a landscape exists right beside the glamorous image of Nikko as a tourist destination is itself a kind of liminality.
Please note
The former hot spring inns visible across the river are all abandoned buildings on private property. Entering them is trespassing and can lead to serious accidents such as falls. This spot is for enjoying the view from the bridge, so please never go onto the other side.
See photos and posts for this place on the LIMap map
Nearby liminal spaces
- Kinugawa-kan Main Building (Kappa Buro) (0.2 km)
- Nikko Western Village (Abandoned) (7.3 km)
- Factory Ruins in Yamaguchi, Nikko (17 km)
- Oya History Museum (Former Oya Stone Underground Quarry) (28 km)
- Ashio Copper Mine Motoyama Smelter Site (Great Chimney) (31 km)
- Tochigi Prefectural Government Building, 15th Floor Observation Lobby (34 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.