Ashio Copper Mine Motoyama Smelter Site (Great Chimney)
The site of the Motoyama Smelter, the heart of the Ashio Copper Mine, which supported Japan's modernization from the Meiji era through the Showa era. It was also the setting of the mine pollution incident regarded as the origin of Japan's pollution problems, and rust-colored steel frames and decaying factory buildings still lie piled on the mountainside. The great smokestack, more than 45 meters tall, still rises from the slope as a symbol, and these industrial remains being swallowed by greenery suggest another world where time has stopped.
See photos and posts for this place on the LIMap map
Nearby liminal spaces
- Bijinza (Oigami Onsen) (21 km)
- Nikko Western Village (Abandoned) (26 km)
- Factory Ruins in Yamaguchi, Nikko (29 km)
- Kinugawa-kan Main Building (Kappa Buro) (31 km)
- Takimi Bridge (31 km)
- Oya History Museum (Former Oya Stone Underground Quarry) (35 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.