Gymnasium at Family School Fureai, a thick climbing rope lies coiled across the gymnasium floor like something shed.

Series · 30 prints

Family School Fureai

Photographed 2014 - 2016
Frames 30
Camera NIKON D810
Location Hokkaido, Japan
Status Abandoned since 2006; gymnasium roof collapsed 2021
Years 1975 to 2006
Specs Reinforced-concrete three-storey · 13 classes, 351 students at opening · Operated by Yubari Kanko Kaihatsu (third-sector entity)
01 ABOUT THIS SERIES

Series story

Map · Mapbox · OpenStreetMap

Family School Fureai stands on a hillside at the northern end of Yubari in Hokkaido. The building opened on 1 April 1975 as Asahi Elementary School, a new three-storey reinforced-concrete structure built on the site of the demolished wooden Yubari Second Elementary (Daini). It consolidated three local schools - Daini, Fukuzumi and Teibi - that had lost most of their students as Yubari's coal industry shrank. By the early 1980s enrolment had collapsed; the school closed on 31 March 1983 after just eight years. The building stayed empty until Yubari City's tourism third-sector firm Yubari Kanko Kaihatsu, established October 1994, repurposed it as the Family School Fureai public dormitory. In June 2006 Yubari City announced its fiscal collapse; the city formally entered financial reconstruction status on 6 March 2007 and YKK ceased trading 31 March 2007 with ¥5.46 billion of debt. The building has sat empty since. Inside there is no graffiti - only kanji on the chalkboards. Deer and foxes use it now.

03 PRINTS

Prints in this series

Gymnasium at Family School Fureai, a thick climbing rope lies coiled across the gymnasium floor like something shed.
Gymnasium
Cafeteria at Family School Fureai, the floor of the former dining area has taken on green tinge from the algae growing.
Cafeteria
Moss Carpet at Family School Fureai, this former classroom has been severely damaged by water ingress through the ceiling.
Moss Carpet
Classroom at Family School Fureai, a tatami mat flooring of one of the classrooms also used as a sleeping area.
Classroom
Decaying Tuition Room at Family School Fureai, two chairs sit at a pedestal table against a bay window.
Decaying Tuition Room
Waiting Area at Family School Fureai, a small room which joined two parts of the school.
Waiting Area
Girls Yokosou at Family School Fureai, the bathing stools are broken and strewn across the room amongst broken glass.
Girls Yokosou
Seal Of Approval at Family School Fureai, a taxidermied brown bear sits upright on a small rectangle of artificial turf.
Seal Of Approval
Mountain View at Family School Fureai, blue vinyl couches line the far wall beneath a bank of large windows.
Mountain View
Kitchen at Family School Fureai, sunlight illuminates the kitchen of a Family School Fureai, photographed in 2016.
Kitchen
Piano at Family School Fureai, this piano is so far beyond a retune.
Piano
Boys Classroom at Family School Fureai, a classroom stripped to its bones.
Boys Classroom
Toilets at Family School Fureai, three urinals line the left wall, still bolted to pale mosaic tile.
Toilets
Dining Storage at Family School Fureai, a storage area at the end of the school which leads out to an overgrown landscape.
Dining Storage
Drink Machine at Family School Fureai, a JT cigarette vending machine stands pried open against the left wall, its metal.
Drink Machine
Washroom at Family School Fureai, a long narrow room with built-in cabinetry lining the right wall.
Washroom
Study Room at Family School Fureai, a private tuition room which has fared pretty well given the state of the rest.
Study Room
Sports Storage at Family School Fureai, a dim concrete-floored storage room stretches back toward a single window.
Sports Storage
Hallway at Family School Fureai, a corridor stretches deep into the building, floor tiles buckling and separating underfoot.
Hallway
Main Entrance at Family School Fureai, a blue fabric couch sits off-centre in what was once a reception area.
Main Entrance
Boys Yokosu at Family School Fureai, a communal bathing room tiled floor to ceiling in white ceramic squares.
Boys Yokosu
Cash Register at Family School Fureai, a vintage cash register sits abandoned in the former Family School Fureai.
Cash Register
Carpeted Room at Family School Fureai, faded red carpet covers the floor of a large common room.
Carpeted Room
School Room at Family School Fureai, pieces of the ceiling have fallen to the floor, and the flooring has separated.
School Room
Tatami Mats at Family School Fureai, a room with tatami mats on which residents would sleep while boarding at the school.
Tatami Mats
Bathroom Hall at Family School Fureai, a hallway which runs the section of the school housing the boys and girls bathrooms.
Bathroom Hall
Chair Storage Area at Family School Fureai, an area to the side of the cafeteria where dining chairs were packed away after.
Chair Storage Area
Sick Room at Family School Fureai, a bed frame sits against the far wall, its mattress pulled to the floor and covered.
Sick Room
Corridor at Family School Fureai, a passage which led along the badly ruined lower level of the building, running past.
Corridor
Family School Fureai at Family School Fureai, a white three-storey building sits on a raised embankment above an empty car.
Family School Fureai
04 ABOUT THE PRINTS

How they’re made

Paper

Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm. Metallic Gloss 260 gsm for acrylic-mounted prints.

Sizes

Five sizes, XS to XL, from $100. Open editions in XS and S, limited editions in M, L and XL.

Print tiers →

Production

Made to order in 5 to 10 business days.

06 PRESS

In the press

See press coverage

This series has been covered by external publications. The full archive lives on the press page.