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Haikyo / Ruins Seikoshi Gold and Silver Mine
(Entered Jul. 26, 2009)
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We've all heard it before. People never get tired of pointing to Japan in amazement, a country with almost no natural resources that remade itself into a world economic leader and first world country. Hard to believe, but Japan was actually once a top producer and exporter of copper and silver.
No more though. Once productive, mines all over the country have now been abandoned as the small quantity of natural resources was quickly used up.

gold mine town outside

And what is the result? A lot of old mining town haikyos dotting the countryside.
Located on the west side of Izu penninsula, the Seikoshi mining complex was the last of six new haikyo locations MJG and I scouted out on our most recent excursion, and arguably the most interesting. Traveling with us this time around was JC, a haikyo virgin and Paul, who's done a few haikyos on his own and one with MJG.

gold mine town outside

The mine was billed as a 'town' but it really was just a small collection of buildings. I doubt anybody ever lived here.
Any gold dust or silver nuggets lying around forgotten? Unfortunately not.

gold mine town rail car

This particular building (pictured above and below) was extremely rickety. Although the section I'm standing on here was fairly stable, the floor above was not. Getting in and down to this point posed a serious risk to life and limb, stairs were rotten, missing, floorboards threatened to give way with every step. Just another hazard of the haikyoist though.

gold mine town rafters

There were really only two other buildings of note. One seemed like an old office, and the other a storage building.

gold mine town empty room

There were rows upon rows of shelves full of old, musty smelling junk in the storage building.

gold mine town storage room

And some larger junk in the corner.

gold mine town storage room

The most interesting thing was box labeled 'dynamite'. It looked to be full of paper but MJG and JC wanted a closer look and rifled through the box while I beat a hasty retreat. I kept thinking of Dr. Arzt in Lost, how he got blown up, and didn't want a real live demonstration. The two of them ended up finding only more paper, and as far as I know, are still alive at the time of this writing.

mining town dynamite box

Lastly we took a look inside the 'office' building, where JC discovered a working computer emitting 'beeps' every few seconds. It's hard to describe the feeling when you find working electronics at a haikyo. It's kind of like when your TV turns on by itself, or a lamp stays on even after you pull out the plug. JC was convinced we'd discovered 'The Hatch' and was all ready to enter 4 8 15 16 23 42 to save the world. Practicality won the day though, and seeing how this was obviously someone's private property, beat a hasty retreat, and headed off to Sports World.

 

 

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