Ogurasawa Mine Housing Ruins
The remains of the Ogurasawa settlement of the Chichibu Mine (also known as the Nitchitsu Mine), deep in the Chichibu mountains along the Nakatsu River. Hiraga Gennai is said to have tried to develop a mine here in the Edo period, and at its peak in the 1960s more than 2,000 people lived in these mountains at an elevation of over 800 meters. The mine closed in 2022, many of the company houses have been lost to snow damage or demolition, and the Ogurasawa Elementary and Junior High School building was demolished in 2024. The land and buildings are managed by the mining company and cannot be entered without permission, so please view them only from the public road. The road is a dead end deep in the mountains, so also watch out for falling rocks.
See photos and posts for this place on the LIMap map
Nearby liminal spaces
- Yano Hydroelectric Power Plant (24 km)
- Former Kawano Station, Okutama Lake Ropeway (32 km)
- Gunma Music Center (38 km)
- Ohikage Tunnel Walking Path (39 km)
- Usui No. 3 Bridge (Megane Bridge) and the Abt Road (39 km)
- Kumanotaira Station Site (Former JNR Shin'etsu Main Line) (39 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.