It is interesting to see a building which has abandoned by people. Peeping into a building soon to be pulled down, I can see the habits and daily lives of the people who used to live there and I get a strange feeling looking at old furniture lying about. Is it because it makes me experience something that I've not actually experienced myself, just like reading a novel? Or is it just that I'm fascinated by the past? But there is something about those buildings that attract me for some reason.

But it seems to be quite troubling to be interested in visiting ruined buildings. There are usually owned by someone and often surrounded by fence or wire netting. Yet because you rarely get a permission to see the inside or go together with the owner, you inevitably have to trespass. In that case you'd have to worry about people's eyes and be nervous about not being reported to the police walking. Occasionally you even go and see it in the middle of the night with a flashlight in your hand as if you were testing your courage or something. Just like scary ghost stories go well with summer, "going secretly" probably matches perfectly when visiting ruins.

Sometimes I visit a building which is no longer in use and often walk with someone who had something to do with that building and talk about the state of the building in those days when it was still being used, the reason why it is left as it is, and how it is going to be managed in the future. Thus I don't have to be nervous or worried, but I don't feel like I'm visiting ruins in the true sense. But still, as I'm interested to know any event that relates to a particular area or building, I prefer walking with someone who has a detailed knowledge of those properties.

I'm pretty sure that around you there is a house with a sign indicating construction plans but left as it is since then, or a building that is rusting away by not being repaired. Why was that building built and then fell out of use? Even without trespassing, it is still enjoyable just by looking at such building from the outside and wondering about it.

Translated by Maiko Noda