{"id":461,"date":"2007-05-19T18:58:18","date_gmt":"2007-05-19T09:58:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2007-05-19\/461"},"modified":"2007-05-19T18:58:18","modified_gmt":"2007-05-19T09:58:18","slug":"still-forsaken-kyoto-universitys-kumano-dorm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2007-05-19\/461","title":{"rendered":"Still Forsaken: Kyoto University’s Kumano Dorm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n

As I wrote in\nJanuary<\/a>, one of the most forsaken places I've ever seen is Kyoto\nUniversity's Kumano Dorm (\u4eac\u90fd\u5927\u5b66<\/span>\u306e\u718a\u91ce\u5bee).<\/span> It's right<\/span> here in the city,\nbut once you enter the grounds, it feels as if you're visiting the\nlong-abandoned remains of a war<\/span>-ravaged society. Wandering the grounds,\nonly the word “forsaken” seems to do justice to the ambiance. It's otherworldly<\/span> eerie.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 28mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>160 sec, f\/6.3, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n“Kyoto University Kumano Dorm”<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

Since my visit last fall when I took<\/span> these pictures, I've learned a bit<\/span>\nabout why it is the way it is from my friend Shimada-san<\/a>.\nDuring the student unrest common around the world in the late 60s and early\n70s, radical leftist students took over the dorm, requiring the government\nto reclaim it by force. As part of<\/span> the resolution, it was decided that the\nstudents would administer all aspects of the dorm's existence, receiving\nfrom the university only minimal financial support.<\/p>\n\n

Without adult supervision, you really can't expect a bunch<\/span> of college\nkids to administer a hot<\/span>-dog stand for a long<\/span> weekend, much less expect\nrevolving generations of kids to administer a complex<\/span> of buildings for 35+\nyears. I'm sure that<\/span> over the years there have been students who felt a\nmature<\/span> sense of responsibility for themselves and their actions, but for the\nmost part it seems that if a resident<\/span> broke something (accidentally or\npurposefully), there were no repercussions, and no authority to come along\nand fix it. Forsaken.<\/p>\n\n

According to this\nhistory<\/a> of the dorm, it seems that one of the first decisions the\nstudents made was to admit women. I must admit<\/span> that I would<\/span> have done the\nsame. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 17mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>125 sec, f\/10, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nView From the Entrance<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

From the road, the place has the drab and depressing look of a prison,<\/span> a\nlook<\/span> common to educational institutions in Japan (particularly high\nschools). From the entrance, aside from a huge<\/span> pile of abandoned\nappliances stacked up against the edge of one building (left side in the\npicture above), there's little to indicate the despair that awaits within.\nIn fact, the large number of bicycles neatly parked in the large front area\nhints at the bustle of life inside.<\/p>\n\n

You don't have to wander far before things start looking down.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 26mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>160 sec, f\/2.8, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nAlong the Front Fence<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

Beside the abandoned car is a massive tangled pile of abandoned\nbicycles. It's well covered<\/span> with weeds, but being right against the front\nfence, is visible from the street.<\/p>\n\n

The big pile of abandoned bicycles is actually an indication of the more\nmature nature of the students, having taken the trouble to discard them in\none place. Not all have<\/span> been so heavily burdened by a sense<\/span> of community, discarding\ntheir vehicles randomly around the grounds....<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 30mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>640 sec, f\/2.8, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nNice Spot for a Picnic<\/span><\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 30mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>100 sec, f\/4, ISO 1100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nScooters Congregated Mostly Over Here<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

The stickers on the scooters' licence plates indicate that their\ncompulsory insurance had been prepaid through 1994 and 1995. (Frankly, they\nlook in remarkably good shape for not having been street legal for at least\nthe last 12 years.)<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>250 sec, f\/2.8, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nNot Junk<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

The vegetation had been cleared from one area to make way for a large<\/span>\nskateboarding ramp, with the furniture in the photo above being where the\nspectators would sit.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 17mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>100 sec, f\/8, ISO 500 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nFire Exit<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

The photo above shows the far end of a long,<\/span> thin dorm building, the\nsame one mentioned earlier as being visible from the entrance with the\nstacks of abandoned appliances. At the bottom<\/span> of the stairs, behind a tall<\/span>\nand thick wall of junk, is the first-floor exit.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 23mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>100 sec, f\/2.8, ISO 1000 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nSomeone's Dorm-Room Door<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

All the buildings seemed to be designed the same way, with the hallway\nservicing the dorm rooms being technically inside the building, but with\nhuge windows (may broken) so that it feels as if the hallway is half\noutside.<\/p>\n\n

The picture above looks through one such window, across the hallway to\nthe brownish door of a student's<\/span> room. Looking at the larger version (click\non the image), you can see that there are various things scrawled on the\ndoor and its window. The big red<\/span> text, which likely dates back to the 70s,\nwarns that members of a\nrival<\/span> communist group<\/a> must keep out. (Although the students were united\nagainst the authorities during the unrest, rival factions often fought\nagainst each other as well.)<\/p>\n\n

On the door's window, it looks to the pledge of some guy named Tanimoto\nto give up alcohol (dated Sep 30, 1988).<\/p>\n\n

Looking in the hallway window, down the hall, reveals more gloom and an\nimpressive collection of large beer bottles.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 17mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>80 sec, f\/2.8, ISO 1600 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n100 Bottles of Beer on the Floor, 100 Bottles of Beer....<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

Having been built in 1965, the rooms are apparently quite spacious by\ntoday's standards, but still lacking space, students store their things in\nthe hallway, and in the case below, in the stairwell. (A fire<\/span> marshall\nseeing this would probably spontaneously implode.)<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 17mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>45 sec, f\/2.8, ISO 1600 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nStairwell Entrance<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 17mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>160 sec, f\/13, ISO 200 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nJungle<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

Behind the rear-most building is a “lawn” of sorts, closer to a jungle.<\/span>\nLooking at the large version of the picture above, you can see a bazillion<\/span>\ngossamer wires draping from the roof, placed there as students placed their\nown antenna on the roof and wired it to their room.<\/p>\n\n

The dorm got hot water in the communal showers only in 1991, and\napparently it broke down quickly thereafter, so something like a TV<\/span> antenna\nmust be a luxury.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Between two of the buildings is an elegant water feature and courtyard....<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 17mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>100 sec, f\/8, ISO 450 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nFountain of Elegance<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 55mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>60 sec, f\/8, ISO 1600 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nExtra Storage<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D200 + Nikkor 17-55 f\/2.8 @ 44mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>100 sec, f\/4.5, ISO 500 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nSigns of Recent Life<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I didn't see a single person the whole time I was<\/span> there. As I said<\/span>, it\nwas eerie, to say the least. Most of the time I was<\/span> somewhat on edge, half\nexpecting that at any moment a pack<\/span> of disfigured, marauding, wild dogs\nwould come flying around the corner to eat my face.<\/p>\n\n

Twice while I was there, the ghostly silence was rudely interrupted by\nannouncements over a hidden<\/span> (but very loud) public-address system, an\nelderly man's voice calling such-and-such a person<\/span> for a phone<\/span> call.\nApparently, the rooms have no phones, but there's a phone<\/span> (and an old man)\nsomewhere.<\/p>\n\n

Shimada-san found a site with some\npictures from 2002<\/a> of the dorm. It's all in<\/span> Japanese, but just click on\nthe list of links at the bottom and you'll see some small but interesting\npictures. In particular, page 6<\/a> shows an amazing pile\nof dust with a slight<\/span> layer of telephone underneath.<\/p>\n\n

Recently I've noticed what appears from the outside to be a\nsubstantially<\/span> worse version of this dorm, Kyoto University's Yoshida Dorm. It's apparently<\/span> much older (dating back perhaps 100 years, to the Meiji\nEra), but unlike this dorm I often<\/span> see signs of life as I drive<\/span> by. It's on my<\/span> list to visit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As I wrote in January, one of the most forsaken places I've ever seen is Kyoto University's Kumano Dorm (\u4eac\u90fd\u5927\u5b66\u306e\u718a\u91ce\u5bee). It's right here in the city, but once you enter the grounds, it feels as if you're visiting the long-abandoned remains of a war-ravaged society. Wandering the grounds, only the word \"forsaken\" seems to do justice to the ambiance. It's otherworldly eerie.<\/p>

Since my visit last fall when I took these pictures, I've learned a bit about why it is the way it is from my friend Shimada-san. During the student unrest common around the world in the late 60s [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=461"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}