It's been a while, and a busy while. The weekend after returning from travels, a few of us journeyed to an abandoned amusement park for some "urban exploration." We also wound up visiting an onsen and making some pottery. The next week was yet another trip, this time about twenty employees banded together to go skiing in Nagano. I didn't take any pictures at either of these places - it was too much fun to see and looking at it from behind a camera isn't quite the same. You know how people can sometimes get - they take loads of pictures but don't bother to soak up the scenery with their naked eye. On the other hand, counting on others to take pictures for you has an empty feeling to it. Looking through them, I often feel like there's something missing... like you're reviewing frames from a documentary instead of a home video.

The abandoned amusement park trip was.. amusing. We took the train to Takasaki and a bus ride to the base of a shrine with a thousand steps leading uphill to it. The walk became progressively beautiful as the entire region was slowly revealed behind us. At the top of the climb, one could see out to all the mountain ranges holding back the sprawl. There also happened to be a gargantuan Kannon statue unexpectedly poking out from the trees on the hillside. To our surprise, there was a bus stop, restrooms, and plenty of restaurants in the area before it. We had expected the park to be without a trace of people nearby, but the busy road leading to this parking area proved us wrong.

Ducking under some rope and into the courtyard, the sight was beautiful. The tall grass fighting through the concrete, some funny graffiti, various out-of-place pieces of garbage.. we headed for the dilapidated buildings before us. They consisted of a mess hall, kitchen, traditional-style restaurant, and what seemed to be a gift shop. What made walking through these dusty ruins both interesting and creepy at the same time was the state they'd been left in. The people closing down the place never thought it important to remove the furniture or tableware. Some others had trashed the place a little, so there were obstacles like broken glass around, but in general it felt like a very safe place to wander around. I had expected a hobo commune to be squatting it, so it being vacant was a relief.

The rest of the park was sadly barren. My assumption is that the rides could be dismantled and sold as scrap metal, but it wasn't worth paying to demolish the wooden structures we had rummaged through. There were concrete supports with metal in them still, but everything else had been hauled away it seemed. On one end was a suspension bridge crossing a few lanes of concrete in what seemed to be a go-kart track. It was built well, but still covered with rust and eager plantlife. An odd sculpture of a hand remained with flaking gold paint, and there was another stone carving of two children and woodland creatures with the taint of moss. Also left to rest in peace were the various toilets, though curiously all the sinks had been smashed. I'm not sure if that's standard plumber procedure or the work of vandals, but if it was the latter, they never broke a single mirror - superstition, maybe?

At the far end was a water park complete with lazy river and wave pool. The most elaborate graffiti was done in this area, since there were tall walls still intact; not much litter from it all, either. We did get a little muddy from trekking around, but it was easy enough to pick out with the help of the silverware back at the restaurant. I also grabbed a few beer mugs as omiyage. For our first foray into urban exploration, I think it turned out well. The trick is to have some company so that if things don't turn out as you planned, it's not a complete disappointment. Also, if you break a leg, you won't die alone, hungry and cold.

That will be all for now, I'm hungry.