Title of "Ghosts of Tomorrow" carved with a knife into the entrance door of the Kinugawa Onsen installation at Gallery ETHER.
Silhouetted visitor opening the door into Ghosts of Tomorrow, an installation on Kinugawa Onsen at Gallery ETHER, guided by a flashlight.
Abandoned-looking room with desks and chairs, partially illuminated by flashlight in the "Ghosts of Tomorrow" installation at Gallery Ether.
Installation view of Ghosts of Tomorrow at Gallery ETHER, with a laptop and objects from the Kinugawa Onsen project illuminated by flashlight.
Visitor examining the old blueprint of a now-abandoned hotel using a flashlight inside the Ghosts of Tomorrow installation.
Dark room in the Ghosts of Tomorrow installation, with desks, chairs and photographs relating to Kinugawa Onsen.
Old television set and magazines illuminated by flashlight inside the Ghosts of Tomorrow installation, Kinugawa Onsen.
Framed photographs of Kinugawa Onsen displayed along a dark gallery wall during Ghosts of Tomorrow.
A hand from an animatronic, a flyer from the abandoned Western Village theme park, and a framed photograph of the hand of a similar animatronic, displayed in the *Ghosts of Tomorrow* installation at Gallery ETHER.
Dust-covered arcade controller with a green ball top, various green buttons, the words "Virtua Stick" on it, and a yellow plastic crate beside it, illuminated by flashlight in the installation. An arcade joystick controller
Photographic negatives displayed on a lightbox inside the Ghosts of Tomorrow installation.
Silhouetted visitor exploring a dark room by flashlight during Ghosts of Tomorrow.
Close-up of an interior wall with electrical cables, pipes, and a framed photograph, illuminated by flashlight inside the Ghosts of Tomorrow installation.

Ghosts of Tomorrow marked my first encounter with the town of Kinugawa.

The project is an attempt to understand the social and economic forces behind the decline of the abandoned hotels and leisure facilities that remain across the town. 

At this stage, the work focused on the ruins themselves, before my research later expanded to the people, businesses and everyday life that continue to shape Kinugawa today.

Combining contemporary photographs with found images, objects, archival material and text, the project examined the remains of a tourism economy built during Japan’s decades of rapid growth.

Presented at Gallery ETHER in Tokyo in 2025, the installation transformed the gallery into an abandoned building, which visitors explored guided only by the faint beam of a flashlight.

GHOSTS OF TOMORROW

Gallery ETHER, Tokyo, 2025.04.26 — 2025.05.17

https://www.galleryether.com/en/exhibitions/ghosts-of-tomorrow