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Haikyo / Ruins | Justice for Mt. Asama's Volcano Museum | (Entered Nov. 24, 2009) |
Recent Haikyo/Ruins: | |||
MJG, Jason and I visited the volcano museum two years ago, and it proved to be such an exceptional haikyo that it was added to a mutual list of haikyo to revisit in order to 'do them justice' as I like to put it. Sports World was the first, and Mt. Asama's Ruined Volcano Museum will be the second. Two years ago I was shooting with a 6 year old Fujifilm digicam, and didn't have a clue about things like shutter speed, aperture, ISO, depth of focus, composition, and the list goes on. Fast forward to today where I still don't have a good understanding of the above list, but I'd like to think I've come a long way, as my previous post on this haikyo will probably illustrate. Not much had changed in the intervening two years; the stuffed deer still stood on the ruined topographic map, the volcano still belched grey/black cotton that remained remarkably well preserved. The upper decks however were in a much worse state than last time. Not only had all the glass been shattered, but even some of the metal window grating had been forced off the walls, a testament to the power of seismic activity, snow, ice, and wind. Most of the damage was not man made. You can clearly see how the concrete overhang has broken off, and been hurled inside through the glass. It wouldn't be possible for people to throw such heavy rocks in from the outside here as the museum at this point is basically on a precipice overlooking a long drop. MJG and I went along on this trip with two fellow haikyoists, Lee, who runs the semi-famous blog Tokyo Times, and Mike (three Mikes in one car!) who came up from Nagoya and runs the blog Gakuranman. Both of them are haikyo veterans and have done numerous haikyo themselves, but this was the first time that we'd teamed up and gone together. The four of us thought up this trip at my recent art show exhibition, which they were all kind enough to show up for. For reasons unknown the power could still be turned on for some exhibits, such as this grimy, old display of animal pictures indigenous to the area. A bit unnerving to say the least. There is some online evidence however that the electrical equipment and machines in the building are being used to monitor the volcanic activity of Mt. Asama. I had no idea until today, that Mt. Asama's last eruption was in February 2009. Something we didn't find the first time around, animals preserved in jars in a dark storage room. Not sure how a snake in a jar connects to a volcano museum, but it was there nevertheless. On the way to our next haikyo the day after, the sky was clear. Since our route took us back the same way, we stopped for yet a third time at the museum to get a shot of Mt. Asama. We stopped that third time as grey skies usually don't lend themselves much to photography, but in the case of abandoned buildings, it does lend a certain ambiance that a bright sunny day doesn't provide... However three times is definitely more than enough to visit any one haikyo location.
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Gankutsu Rock Hotel
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