This is a treat from Japan for anyone who enjoys secret spots, abandoned or lost bits of civilization, anthropology, or just an interesting piece of history. This is Hashima Island. It was nicknamed Gunkanjima ??? (battleship island) because of the impression its high walls and skyline gave from the water. It’s a comparatively tiny speck of land off the country’s westernmost coast, [Gmap] but it has a fascinating and unique history.

Forty-odd years ago, this little blip was the site of the most densely populated community on earth. It was a coal-mining community complete with apartment blocks, schools, temples, drinking establishments, movie theatre, hospital, a brothel, and plenty of shopping. A self-contained community which at one point contained the tallest building in the whole of Japan, all built around a profitable mine.

Then one January day it was all over. Coal was no longer profitable enough to justify continuing the mine (thanks to the magic of petroleum), and the operation was closed down. Within a few short months not a single person remained. They left their tools where they had last used them, and their houses and belongings intact. Only the residents became conspicuously absent.

For someone who enjoys exploring abandoned spaces this seems to be a pretty much unbeatable locale. A fully intact miniature city; a modern ghost-town; a perfectly-preserved snapshot of an autonomous culture at a moment in history. The fact that it is an island that most Japanese don’t even know about, and that it requires a boat-ride and special permission to get there means that it is virtually untouched since the day the last worker left. Only time and the elements have continued to alter it.

Great pictures of huge stormdrain networks beneath Tokyo. Apparently the vertical shafts are large enough to accomodate a space-shuttle. It seems they have been under construction for over a decade, and should provide protection in the case of a tsunami/etc. Very future-looking.

Here is some very creative paper art from Peter Callesen.
It seems that most of them are done out of a single large piece of paper, and planned in advance in such a way that the final product is still all a single connected sheet.
Quite talented.

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In all my misadventures through the underground of Japanese music one particular find has remained dearest to my heart. I first stumbled upon this unexpected gem when perusing a cache of random promotional videos, and ever since then my appreciation has continually deepened.

This song is perhaps their most striking. It conjures at first glance an intense tumult of aural input. In the beginning it may be a nearly overwhelming flow, and could engender a desire to climb back to the safety of more peaceful terrain. However, I would take the liberty of recommending that you throw caution to the wind and let the stream take you to its ends. Because once you let go, the fury takes on a new clarity. If you can stop fighting it, it might reveal its story.

For me it’s a story of inevitability and a resignation tinged with sadness. The bass paints an image in blue and black of a world ripe for revolution. It’s an earthquake, an avalanche, an urgency in the air. The drums are the gears, hydraulic joints, and steam engines deep inside some colossal war machine just over the horizon. It’s heading for the glowing center of the world you know, and you can’t stop it so you had better just get used to the idea. The guitar clangs as gigantic stars begin to fill the sky. They are old but glowing, almost bursting now and then as they watch and wait. The vocal melodies tell us the sordid history of this song-world from beginning to now in tones both exalting and mournful. The saxophone toward the end seems to be the voice of the world itself. It struggles with its fate, panic and adrenaline as it sees finality fast approaching, and gives itself up willingly at the last critical moment. Or so it seems to me.

This song is so tangible I can almost hand it to you. If I could, it would be heavy and dark, and you probably wouldn’t know what to make of it right away. Trust me though, if you take it home, listen to it a few times and try to just feel it, in the dark, eyes closed, you may begin to discover a great worth.