Robert Gilhooly

Show Navigation
  • Portfolio
  • Full Archive
    • All Galleries
    • Search
    • Cart
    • Lightbox
    • Client Area
  • About
  • Contact
All Galleries
Add to Cart Download

YUBARI: BANKRUPT TOWN IN HOKKAIDO

20 images Created 30 Apr 2009

Yubari in Japan's far north island of Hokkaido was once a venue for a well-respected annual international film festival. Today it is better known as the town that went bankrupt
View: 100 | All
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
x

Loading ()...

  • Yubari City, on the northernmost island of Hokkaido, Japan. More than 40 percent of Yubari's fast-diminishing population is made up of over-65-year-olds, reportedly the highest proportion of elderly citizens in Japan. Yubari was once a well-respected venue for an international film festival.
    YUBARI 0002.JPG
  • A man walks down the main entertainment district -- now all but deserted -- in Yubari City, on the northernmost island of Hokkaido, Japan. Shuttered up stores are a common sight in the city, which is officially bankrupt.
    YUBARI 0003.JPG
  • An elderly local resident walks past a building decorated with a poster for the film Blue Hawaii in Yubari City, on the northernmost island of Hokkaido in Japan. The city, once well known for its international film festival, is today bankrupt.
    YUBARI 0015.JPG
  • An elderly man walks past a shuttered building once housing a center for teenage women in Yubari City, on the northernmost island of Hokkaido, Japan. More than 40 percent of Yubari's fast-diminishing population is made up of over-65-year-olds, reportedly the highest proportion of elderly citizens in Japan. Yubari was once a well-respected venue for an international film festival and on the wall of the building is a poster for the film East of Eden".
    YUBARI 0024.JPG
  • Atsuko Muraoka, 85, shows off some of her goods at her flower shop in Yubari City, on the northernmost island of Hokkaido in Japan. "Not long ago, many people came to study ikebana, the ancient art of flower arranging," says Muraoka. "Now there's nobody left to study it. Our cultural heritage is going the same way as the city -- bankrupt."  .
    YUBARI 0029.jpg
  • A car speeds past shuttered up stores in Yubari City, on the northernmost island of Hokkaido in Japan. The Yubari municipality is officially bankrupt, and boarded up stores and other businesses are a common sight. .
    YUBARI 0030.jpg
  • Photo shows shuttered up stores in Yubari City, on the northernmost island of Hokkaido in Japan. The Yubari municipality is officially bankrupt, and boarded up stores and other businesses are a common sight. .
    YUBARI 0031.jpg
  • A mother and two children walk past a poster for the film Die Hard in Yubari City, on the northernmost island of Hokkaido in Japan. Among Yubari's claims to fame is an international film festival, which was once a local government-run event frequented by the likes of Quentin Tarrantino.
    YUBARI 0033.jpg
  • Photo shows shuttered up stores in Yubari City, on the northernmost island of Hokkaido in Japan. The Yubari municipality is officially bankrupt, and boarded up stores and other businesses are a common sight.
    YUBARI 0035.jpg
  • A station waiting room is without life in Yubari City, on the northernmost island of Hokkaido in Japan. Yubari's remote location means it is served by a railroad service that is almost entirely unmanned by station staff due to the bankruptcy of the city. .
    YUBARI 0036.jpg
  • An elderly woman walks past a shuttered up and desereted pub in Yubari City, on the northernmost island of Hokkaido in Japan.
    YUBARI 0039.jpg
  • A local resident walks past a building decorated with posters of the films Die Hard and South Pacific in Yubari City, on the northernmost island of Hokkaido in Japan. The city, once well known for its international film festival, is today bankrupt.
    YUBARI 0044.jpg
  • The photos and names of residents and pets are displayed at a privately run home for the elderly in Yubari City, on the northernmost island of Hokkaido in Japan. "More than 40 percent of Yubari's fast-diminishing population is made up of elderly pensioners, the highest proportion of elderly citizens in Japan," according to the home owner, Takanori Eguchi.
    YUBARI 0052.jpg
  • A ferris wheel stands motionless at the heart of an amusement park in Yubari City, on the northernmost island of Hokkaido in Japan. The park, now closed, was part of a local-government-intiatiated project to revitalise the town and draw tourists after its coal industry ended in 1990. Instead, many local residents say such projects have been the main cause of the city's slide to bankruptsy.
    YUBARI 0088.jpg
  • A snow-capped statue of a coal miner stands at the heart of an amusement park in Yubari City, on the northernmost island of Hokkaido in Japan. The amusement park, which is is currently closed, was a local government project aimed at luring tourists after the city's last coal mine closed in 1990. Instead, the park became one of a number of locally generated projects that have driven the city to bankruptcy.
    YUBARI 0120.jpg
  • Kimi Ouchi, aged 85, is helped to her feet by a staffer as Kie Kimura (far right), 87, and Satako Hosokawa, 75, enjoy their evening meal at a privately run home for the elderly in Yubari City, on the northernmost island of Hokkaido in Japan. "More than 40 percent of Yubari's fast-diminishing population is made up of elderly pensioners, the highest proportion of elderly citizens in Japan," according to the home owner, Takanori Eguchi.
    YUBARI 0141.jpg
  • Miki Sudo (L) and Kiyo Nishimura, both aged 98, enjoy the evening news on the TV at a privately run home for the elderly in Yubari City, on the northernmost island of Hokkaido in Japan. Yubari's fast-diminishing population is largely made up of elderly pensioners and has the highest proportion of elderly citizens in Japan. "So much has changed," commented Nishimura of the city in which she was born.
    YUBARI 0158.jpg
  • View from train of the snow-covered fields in Yubari City, on the northernmost island of Hokkaido, Japan. More than 40 percent of Yubari's fast-diminishing population is made up of over-65-year-olds, reportedly the highest proportion of elderly citizens in Japan. Yubari was once a well-respected venue for an international film festival .
    BANKRUPT TOWN 10001.jpg
  • The entrance to the closed down museum about the coal mines that were once in operation in Yubari, Japan. The museum is located inside the grounds of a theme park, now closed, that was part of a local-government-intiatiated project to revitalise the town and draw tourists after its coal industry ended in 1990. Instead, many local residents say such projects have been the main cause of the city's slide to bankruptsy.
    BANKRUPT TOWN 10002.jpg
  • The entrance to the closed down museum about the coal mines that were once in operation in Yubari, Japan. The museum is located inside the grounds of a theme park, now closed, that was part of a local-government-intiatiated project to revitalise the town and draw tourists after its coal industry ended in 1990. Instead, many local residents say such projects have been the main cause of the city's slide to bankruptsy.
    BANKRUPT TOWN 10003.jpg
View: 100 | All