The far west of Tokyo is a very different world from the capital’s more central districts. Rather than crowds and concrete, there are mountains and trees, along with bonus extras such as abandoned cable cars and bar owners in their 90s who once rode on them.
On top of that the area is also home to Ogochi Dam, which was completed in 1957. And presumably once the dam was in operation, the 6.7km railroad that connected it to the nearest town would have been closed, as its sole purpose was the transportation of building materials and machinery. Yet despite almost 60 years of complete neglect, practically all of the line is still walkable, with only a few deteriorating bridges and once formidable barriers to deal with. The latter put in place to block the line’s numerous tunnels. A few of which are really quite long. Offering up the option to try something different photographically.
Along with the chance to simply do something very different from what one normally does on a day out in Tokyo.
Martin says
Cool! B&W was the obvious choice.
Lee says
It was quite a day out. Very cool place. And yeah, I’d made the decision of using black & white before going. Fortunately got the kind of shots I was looking for too.
Bernadette Siobhán Loftus says
Brilliant work! I’m glad you were able to capture a shadowed figure in the shots. It really completes the look.
Lee says
Thanks! Fortunately my pal was patient enough to stand there while I faffed about trying to get the light and focus something like right.
Al says
Whoah, very cool! 🙂 Amazed to see that in Tokyo. Lucky you took flashlights with you! 😉
Lee says
It made for a very interesting day. And yeah, we’d have been stuck without torches. Total darkness in quite a few of the tunnels.
Scruffy says
Very nice.
My husband glanced at the first one from across the room and asked me who sent the ultrasound.
Lee says
Cheers.
That’s funny. Very funny!
Hans ter Horst says
Very cool! Both rock, but I prefer the 1st one.
Lee says
Cheers! Likewise. Very pleased with how the first one came out.
cdilla says
Such cool photo’s. Definitely worth the time to set up the way you wanted. They reminded me very much of this video https://youtu.be/CDXNfe2W8c8
There are so many fascinating abandoned buildings/sites/places, but it’s not often you get to see them. Sadly my urban exploration days are behind me now and at the time the last thing I was thinking of was photographing them, which is why I like this element of your site – and the reason I first came here. The London underground was one of my favourite places. 30 years ago it was far easier to get into them unnoticed by the authorities.
There is nothing quite like standing in a once busy and alive place no-one frequents any more.
Lee says
Cheers. It was a very cool walk/day out. Think I’ll have to do it again when there is more foliage. Unfortunately everything outside the tunnels was all a bit brown. Autumn would probably be a good time to go back. Nice bit of colour and the bugs will have hopefully gone by then.
Didn’t realise you first came here cos of the urban exploration stuff. Something I need to get back into. Just finding places… But heading down into the underground sounds fantastic. Aside from the tunnels, what kind of places could you explore?
Oh, and thanks for the link. I Hadn’t though about that video. The Third Man was also mentioned in relation to the photos. Both references are very pleasing.
cdilla says
When I was a kid there were new housing estates being built and the finished houses stayed empty for ages before being occupied and a friend and I found where the door keys were (poorly) hidden and let ourselves in. Kinda like Haikyo but in reverse. Later it was whatever I happened across, there was nothing planned. In Basingstoke I came across a hole in a field on the outskirts that dropped down into abandoned offices of some sort. Up in a small wood in Yorkshire there was a deserted compound with a small building that had stairs down into a fairly large shelter of some kind. In one town there was a set of double metal doors in an underpass which opened to a short tunnel and lift down to who knows what. And in another town I lived in there is a statue whose plinth opens to stairs leading down to a network of tunnels spreading for a mile or so. In London it was all stuff I was shown by others and mostly dead tube tunnels and the like.
You can see why I so liked the myriad tunnels under Shinjuku 🙂
Lee says
I can!
A hole leading to abandoned offices sounds very interesting. Always like old offices because of the personal stuff often left behind.
David Lowe says
Nice composition with the silhouettes providing some rather spooky imagery! What intrigues most about these tunnels and the Okutama Ropeway is the still excellent condition of much of the concrete, in some areas it looks like it was poured this millennia. Sad for both locations given their short lived enterprises otherwise I’m sure the infrastructure would still be soldiering on today. BTW thanks for the call out in the story 😉
Lee says
Cheers.
Yeah, most of it has stood the test of time surprisingly well. Particularly so with no maintenance and the presumably harsh winters. Long may it stay that way too.
You are very welcome. In fact thank you for providing the info. Both useful and interesting.