If you have lived in Japan for awhile, or just like old things, you may have heard about places called “haikyo.” Haikyo are abandoned places that are slowly falling into disrepair.

I have always had an interest in abandoned places and off-beat sightseeing so when a friend of mine asked if I’d like to go with him to explore haikyo I jumped at the chance.

We decided that since this was our first haikyo that we would take it slow and go somewhere

1. not too far from Tokyo

2. Somewhere where there’d be no guards/security people.

However, besides the wealth of blogs available on abandoned sights, there was no way of knowing the exact security scenario.

We decided on an abandoned amusement park in Hino (west of Tokyo). We heard that most of the park was dismantled so we weren’t expecting much security/ruins. We walked around a bit and came across a small hill that looked pretty climbable.We scaled the hill and walked through the tall brush where we found a fence, and a human-sized hole in the fence (evidence that we were not the only people who ever thought about taking a peek inside). On the other side of the fence we came to a huge parking lot, overgrown with grasses.

Warning: There was a security guard on the premises. We also saw some new-ish construction in the park area (maybe they are planning on making something new??). We dodged the guard (don’t think he saw us) and thus were lucky…but…be prepared that you are trespassing !!

We had predicted that most of the rides would be down, and the buildings demolished, so there was not the classic “just abandoned” feel. Nonetheless, it was an interesting experience and I think I will definitely do this again. Will keep you guys posted about how future adventures go.