Former Matsuo Mine Apartment Ruins
The remains of employee housing at the Matsuo Mine, once called "Paradise Above the Clouds." In the decade from the mid-1950s (the Showa 30s), when it flourished as what was called the largest sulfur mine in the East, as many as 13,000 people lived here, but after the mine closed in 1969 (Showa 44) every resident left and the buildings became empty ruins. The reinforced concrete apartment blocks standing at regular intervals in the wilderness create a strange sight that resembles ancient ruins or an abandoned European castle, and their silhouette against the backdrop of Mt. Iwate is known as an unreal landscape.
See photos and posts for this place on the LIMap map
Nearby liminal spaces
- Osarizawa Mine Smelter and Ore Dressing Plant Ruins (31 km)
- Osarizawa Mine (32 km)
- Iwate Bank Red Brick Building (Former Morioka Bank Head Office) (32 km)
- Marukan Building Grand Dining Hall (64 km)
- Former Waga River Hydroelectric Power Plant (70 km)
- Akita Port Tower Selion (78 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.