Kinugawa Onsen

Snow-covered Kinugawa Onsen valley with hotels lining the river gorge.

Owner of souvenir shop Kodaka, Kinugawa Onsen, standing beside bottles and local products.

Interior of Asaya Hotel, an operating hotel lobby in Kinugawa Onsen, with seating and a central staircase.

Found photographs scattered across a table inside an abandoned building in Kinugawa Onsen.

Damaged found photograph of a man and child, probably his son, playing FAMICON videogames on a bed

A partially collapsed wooden house with broken and missing planks, overgrown with vines and surrounded by other residential buildings and utility poles, in Kinugawa Onsen.

Hotel Mikazuki in Kinugawa Onsen, large operating hotel complex, beneath an overcast sky.

Yukata Takeshima, chef woking in the kitchen of the Kinugawa Onsen Hotel, an operating hotel in Kinugawa Onsen.

Empty hotel recreation room with ping-pong tables under purple and pink lighting.

Vintage promotional brochure showing hotel facilities and entertainment of Hotel Green Palace, in Kinugawa Onsen, abandoned since 2015.

Nighttime view of a residential street in Kinugawa Onsen. With houses, parked cars, utility poles, and overhead power lines, illuminated by green streetlights and house lights, with a cloudy sky in the background.

Chika-san, owner of Snack Bar Queen's in Kinugawa Onsen, with a customer.

An aerial view of an old, multi-story apartment building with worn-out exterior walls, rusted railings, and broken or missing windows, set against a backdrop of green trees.

Ballroom of the abandoned Green Palace Hotel in Kinugawa Onsen, with broken ceiling, scattered debris on the floor, and a window with closed blinds. Shadows cast by the window frame and debris create a haunting atmosphere.

Found black-and-white photograph of a bartender preparing a drink behind a hotel bar in Kinugawa Onsen.

Exterior of Kodaka souvenir and food shop in Kinugawa Onsen. A two-story building with signs in Japanese, pink awnings over the windows, and various signs and advertisements on the lower level. There is a utility pole with wires in front of the build

Yukiko Watanabe, elderly woman seated at a low table inside her home in Kinugawa Onsen.

Found photograph of Western Village staff and performers posing. The scene features colorful balloons, some mounted on horseback and others floating in the air, with a bright, clear sky above.

Abandoned entrance to Western Village amusement park near Kinugawa Onsen.

Taxidermy buffalo displayed inside the abandoned Western Village amusement park.

Two Japanese macaques beside a roadside near the Kinugawa city center.

Kinugawa Onsen developed into one of Japan’s major hot-spring destinations during the decades of the economic boom.

Domestic tourism transformed the valley into a dense landscape of hotels and entertainment venues. As the growth halted, and tourism patterns changed, many businesses closed, leaving parts of this infrastructure abandoned.

I first visited Kinugawa in 2022. Over the following four years, I returned across different seasons, photographing the town, its residents, workers, and visitors.

I also found several collections of photographs inside abandoned hotels and other sites. Dating mainly from the 70s and the 80s, these images became part of the project.

Kinugawa Onsen brings contemporary photographs and found material together, in order to examine a place where tourism continues alongside decline, and where different versions of the town remain visible at the same time.

The project currently is being developed as a photobook with the mentorship of photographer Greg Girard. The current maquette comprises 79 photographs and will be available to view in Paris, during Paris Photo 2026. The project is currently seeking a publisher.

Japan, 2022-2026