Tokyo Times

A couple of weeks ago I posted photos of an abandoned mansion belonging to an imprisoned billionaire. Admittedly it’s a place like no other, but it’s also an absolute world away from the rooms below, providing a stark reminder of how different people’s lives can be depending on birth, luck and outside forces.

When trying and failing to get into another abandoned hotel, we spotted this one up the hill. Its bleakness was striking, and things proved to be similarly desolate once inside. Unusually it was also a hotel that at some point or other had been converted into apartments. When that was I don’t know, but calendars in a couple of the rooms suggested it stopped being used in any way, shape or form in the very early 2000s.

Being late in the afternoon on a grey and snowy day, the light was fading from the get-go, and some of the rooms had no windows at all which limited shooting even further. One rather unsettling room within a room was packed full of kids clothing and toys — the only space on the upper floors that looked like its inhabitants had left in any kind of hurry. All the others were very much like the ones in the photos. Mostly empty, but with signs of life that were suggestive of how tough that existence may well have been.

In regards the photos, they are presented in the order I took them. From approaching the building to making our way up to the top floor. On ground level was the vending machine in what was once the lobby, and just off to the side was a kitchen and small living space which was possibly home to the person in charge. Maybe even the owner. The ninth image and onwards are all on the higher floors, culminating in a large living space at the very top which appeared to be several rooms repurposed into one. The chair left behind, however, suggests that unlike that aforementioned billionaire’s mansion, it was about as far removed from a penthouse as it’s possible to get.

Over the years I’ve photographed the likes of abandoned villages, resort towns and terribly poignant former homes. These and other outings have allowed me to build up a nice collection of old telephone and TV shots, as ultimately it’s time along with what gets left behind that makes each and every place special. That said, the mansion complex below is something else altogether.

When I first saw photos of it several years ago, it obviously piqued my interest, but its then completely intact nature and shiny-floored appearance made it look more like a bizarre museum of the kitsch than an abandoned building worth seeking out and photographing. Unfortunately there still hasn’t been enough time for nature to make any real inroads, but plenty of people have passed through, which has taken the sheen of those polished surfaces and given the whole place a sort of post-revolution, or even post-capitalism vibe.

The real story behind it (or at least its owner) isn’t quite so dramatic, but perhaps predictably it does involve money — lots and lots of money. Known as the Ginza Property King, Genshiro Kawamoto is a real estate tycoon supposedly fond of saying, “I don’t care about taxes. Only fools would pay them.” Words he clearly lived by, as in 2013 he was arrested on suspicion of evading over 800 million yen in payments — a charge that in 2018 eventually resulted in the then 86-year-old receiving a 4-year prison sentence along with a 240 million yen fine. Needless to say Kawamoto challenged the decision, but in January last year a final appeal was dismissed by the Supreme Court and both the sentence and fine were upheld.

What all that means for one of his former homes is hard to say, but considering what has already happened, it’s more than likely the sprawling structure will simply be allowed to fall apart and slowly cease to be of interest. A fate similar to the one that will very likely befall Mr. Kawamoto himself.