Genkan Type:Unframed first as a tuberculosis sanitorium

first as a tuberculosis sanitorium and later as a geriatric facility

layered in years of graffiti

This sub-basement level once supported the engine house that

sunlight pressing through grimy windows onto the wreckage below

Coal production ended in 1990

Genkan Type:Unframed first as a tuberculosis sanitoriumA genkan inside the Ogurawa settlement, a pair of shoes left on the step under a layer of dust, the entryway open to fading light. Company housing at Chichibu Mine served a community of workers and families who built their lives around the mine's fortunes. When metal extraction ceased in 1978, families began leaving; the last permanent resident departed in September 2006. Part of the Nichitsu Mining Village series.