Nestled in the mountains of Saitama, Japan, Nichitsu Mining Village stands as a relic of an era defined by industry and ambition. Once home to thousands of miners and their families, this abandoned settlement tells the story of a community built around the Chichibu mine—an operation that evolved from gold extraction in the Takeda family’s era to large-scale zinc and magnetite production in the mid-20th century.
At its peak, the village was a fully functioning township, complete with a school, general store, medical facilities, and even a fire department. But as mining operations wound down in the late 1970s, the village slowly emptied, leaving behind a landscape of weathered structures and remnants of daily life.
Though the mine continues to operate for limestone and quartz sand, its once-thriving workforce now commutes from nearby towns, leaving Nichitsu as a ghost town—a place where time has stood still, preserving the echoes of its past.
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