Charred Piano at Seika Dormitory, this piano was almost entirely burnt by the fire.

Series · 12 prints

Seika Dormitory

Photographed 2012
Frames 12
Camera NIKON D7000
Location Kyoto, Japan
Status Demolished 2013; site redeveloped as Grand Vie Kohinata aged care facility (opened 2019)
Years 1927 to 2007
Specs Reinforced concrete, 3 storeys plus basement · 3,100 sqm site · Built by Gakuso Foundation
01 ABOUT THIS SERIES

Series story

Map · Mapbox · OpenStreetMap

Seika Dormitory was an abandoned Tokyo dormitory documented in the haikyo community for the unusual volume of personal belongings left behind by its tenants. A fire at the building killed two residents and injured others, and the dormitory was abandoned in the years that followed. Mike Grist's January 2010 demolished-haikyo inventory lists Seika as gone, putting demolition at or before the start of the 2010s. The interior, while it stood, contained enough intact personal items to reconstruct each tenant's daily life. Specific dormitory operator, fire date, and Tokyo neighbourhood are not yet recorded in publicly available English-language sources.

03 PRINTS

Prints in this series

Charred Piano at Seika Dormitory, this piano was almost entirely burnt by the fire.
Charred Piano
Dormitory Common Area at Seika Dormitory, the ground floor of the dormitory.
Dormitory Common Area
Snoopy and Woodstock at Seika Dormitory, stuffed toys, left against the wall of the bottom floor of the dormitory.
Snoopy and Woodstock
Bedroom Chair at Seika Dormitory, a chair and desk in one of the dormitory bedrooms.
Bedroom Chair
Sofa at Seika Dormitory, a dilapidated sofa sits in a deserted room at Seika Dormitory.
Sofa
Bed at Seika Dormitory, a stripped bed frame rests within a decaying room at Seika Dormitory.
Bed
Living Room at Seika Dormitory, clothes are still hanging out to dry several years after the occupant left.
Living Room
Entrance at Seika Dormitory, the front door leading into the common area of the dormitory.
Entrance
Kitchen at Seika Dormitory, everything is left as it was.
Kitchen
Books at Seika Dormitory, some textbooks on a windowsill of one of the dormitory rooms.
Books
Dormitory First Level at Seika Dormitory, you can get an idea of how damaging the fire that swept through the building was.
Dormitory First Level
Another Kitchen at Seika Dormitory, you can see the smoke residue covering the walls and the fridge in this shot.
Another Kitchen
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.