A man ventures into the woods and finds a ghost town uninhabited for decades: “Like a time capsule”
The explorer documents an ancient destination completely frozen in time after its abrupt abandonment in the 1990s.
During a trip to Japan, British urban explorer Luke Bradburn accidentally discovered a resort town that had been completely abandoned since the 1990s. The place, known as Kinugawa Onsen, was once a popular hot spring destination, but today its massive hotels lie empty—overgrown with vegetation and shrouded in silence.
“I was exploring areas near Fukushima when I stumbled upon this entire district of abandoned hotels,” Bradburn said. “It was like walking through a ghost town.” Despite their crumbling exteriors, many of the interiors remained surprisingly intact, with rooms and objects frozen in time.
Kinugawa Onsen began to decline after the collapse of Japan’s bubble economy in the 1990s. As tourism dwindled, hotels shut down en masse. However, strict property laws prevented their demolition. In many cases, owners had died without heirs, and under Japanese law, a building can’t be demolished without the legal consent of its owner—even decades later.
Bradburn spent over six hours exploring at least five of the 20 abandoned buildings, navigating collapsed hallways and broken staircases. Inside, he discovered everything from traditional onsen baths to arcade machines still filled with prizes. In the lobbies, stuffed animals like deer and falcons stood eerily untouched. Tables were still set, drinks left behind—as if time had simply stopped.
“From the outside, everything looks rotten. But inside, it’s like stepping into a time capsule,” he said. “It was surreal—rooms intact, objects in place, everything as if the guests were about to return at any moment.” Bradburn described the experience as both hypnotic and hazardous, with structures teetering on the edge of collapse.
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Today, Kinugawa Onsen still draws the occasional curious visitor, but its abandoned hotels remain hidden beneath dense undergrowth—a haunting reminder of Japan’s tourism boom. “It’s eerie, sad, and fascinating all at once,” Bradburn concluded.
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