Mike's Blog

[poliphilo]

My son Mike has a thing about ruins. Japan- where he lives- is dotted with abandoned buildings- some from the boom years, some much older.  Where we'd call in the demolition men- or strip out the insides and build luxury apartments- they just walk out the front door and leave the premises to rot- often with the furnishings intact. They've got a name for these hulks; they call them haikyu. Mike explores haikyu- and blogs about them- and on Saturday he got a very tasty review in the Guardian.

Comments

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

How fascinating! I'm surprised that the Japanese just leave the ruins to rot, I thought they were short of space and that the land was very valuable, but perhaps that's only in parts of the country? That's what happens in the UK, certainly. Urban ruins get redeveloped or pulled down, but in rural areas buildings can decay quietly for years until someone complains about the safety aspects.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I thought that too.

I guess the huge population is all concentrated in a few very densely built up urban areas.