Snack Bar Elite at Streetscapes of Yubari, the roof of the building has collapsed under the weight of the snow build up.

01 Streetscapes of YubariYubari2016

ISO 5001/60f/8.014mm

Series · 54 prints

Streetscapes of Yubari

Photographed 2016
Frames 54
Camera NIKON D810 · NIKON D7000
Location Hokkaido, Japan
Status Mostly abandoned; city in ongoing decline
Specs Coal-mining city, 1888 to 1990 · Population peak ~116,908 in 1960 · Population ~6,374 in 2024
01 ABOUT THIS SERIES

Series story

Map · Mapbox · OpenStreetMap

Yūbari is a coal-mining city in central Hokkaido. Founded in 1943, its population peaked at around 120,000 in the 1960s and now sits at about 6,400. The colliery closed in the 1980s. The city's attempt to recover through tourism failed; in 2007 it became the first Japanese municipality to declare bankruptcy, owing 35.3 billion yen. These streetscapes were taken between the houses, shops, and schools the town no longer needs - most empty, some half-collapsed, some still in use by the people who stayed.

03 PRINTS

Prints in this series

Hand-signed limited editions, printed from the original RAW file. Editions run from 100 down to 25 and are not reissued once they sell through.

Snack Bar Elite at Streetscapes of Yubari, the roof of the building has collapsed under the weight of the snow build up.
Snack Bar Elite
Old vs New at Streetscapes of Yubari, a residents car sits parked in the middle of the street between houses.
Old vs New
Public Housing Driveway at Streetscapes of Yubari, a driveway dividing two abandoned blocks of public housing.
Public Housing Driveway
Nissan Car Dealership at Streetscapes of Yubari, a former car showroom and dealership sit opposite the former driving school.
Nissan Car Dealership
Shopfront at Streetscapes of Yubari, a two-storey shopfront on a quiet Yubari street.
Shopfront
Boarded Public Housing at Streetscapes of Yubari, rusting park equipment sits in the foreground of former public housing.
Boarded Public Housing
Yubari Cinema Street at Streetscapes of Yubari, bold black katakana characters spell out ゆうばりキネマ街道 across a rusted wire.
Yubari Cinema Street
Matsuya at Streetscapes of Yubari, this building was possibly accommodation.
Matsuya
Side Facade at Streetscapes of Yubari, a shot from the side if an unstable building which would have once been a busy.
Side Facade
Welcome To Yubari at Streetscapes of Yubari, a rusted welcome sign stands roadside on the approach to Yubari.
Welcome To Yubari
Suntory at Streetscapes of Yubari, a broad green façade rises two storeys above a small asphalt lot.
Suntory
Yubari Driving School at Streetscapes of Yubari, the building which the former driving school was run from.
Yubari Driving School
Shimizusawa Station at Streetscapes of Yubari, plywood boards cover the windows along the left side.
Shimizusawa Station
Gas Station at Streetscapes of Yubari, former gas station on the way into Yubari.
Gas Station
Shimizusawa Seiei Cho at Streetscapes of Yubari, red steel rooflines pack tight against one another, row after row.
Shimizusawa Seiei Cho
Stairway at Streetscapes of Yubari, a narrow concrete stairway climbs steeply between tightly packed buildings.
Stairway
Water Slide at Streetscapes of Yubari, the broken water slide and pool of the former coal mining amusement park.
Water Slide
Yume at Streetscapes of Yubari, a concrete danchi block stands at the centre of a curved road, its stairwell tower painted.
Yume
Fox at Streetscapes of Yubari, a red fox stands on its hind legs, front paws pressed against a rusted industrial structure.
Fox
Clock Tower at Streetscapes of Yubari, cedar shingles clad its body.
Clock Tower
Kenko Kaikan at Streetscapes of Yubari, a barrel-vaulted roof in dark maroon trim arcs over a broad concrete facade.
Kenko Kaikan
Ticket Centre at Streetscapes of Yubari, a wooden shingle silo rises from the concrete, capped with a faceted copper dome.
Ticket Centre
Mt Racey at Streetscapes of Yubari, the still operational Mt Racey ski resort.
Mt Racey
Yandume Dental Clinic at Streetscapes of Yubari, a two-storey concrete clinic sits flush with the wet road.
Yandume Dental Clinic
Wooden Panels at Streetscapes of Yubari, several attempts have been made to patch up holes in the side of the building.
Wooden Panels
Hill View at Streetscapes of Yubari, a view from the side of a house looking out over the hills of Yubari.
Hill View
Park Play Equipment at Streetscapes of Yubari, play equipment decaying in the elements.
Park Play Equipment
Kurobeno Taiyo at Streetscapes of Yubari, a large hand-painted billboard stands on weathered timber posts beside a hillside.
Kurobeno Taiyo
Melon Store at Streetscapes of Yubari, a single-storey retail building sits square to the road, its steel roller shutters.
Melon Store
Jirochofuji And Mabutanohaha at Streetscapes of Yubari, a shuttered shopfront sits roadside in Yubari.
Jirochofuji And Mabutanohaha
Death Wish at Streetscapes of Yubari, a steep red A-frame facade sits close to the road, its triangular face filled.
Death Wish
Vine House at Streetscapes of Yubari, a two-storey building faces the wet road, its white rendered walls stained dark.
Vine House
Ken House at Streetscapes of Yubari, a variety shop for girls in Shimizusawa, where usic constantly plays from a store.
Ken House
Gift Shop at Streetscapes of Yubari, a low single-storey building stretches across an empty car park.
Gift Shop
Shrine Stairway at Streetscapes of Yubari, concrete steps climb a steep hillside, narrowing as they disappear into bare.
Shrine Stairway
Public Housing and Storage at Streetscapes of Yubari, a driveway between a now abandoned public housing block.
Public Housing and Storage
Honcho Shotenagi at Streetscapes of Yubari, the main shopping Street of Yubari.
Honcho Shotenagi
Landing at Streetscapes of Yubari, a concrete-walled pond choked with bright green algae sits in the foreground.
Landing
Shikanotani Station at Streetscapes of Yubari, a single-storey JR station building sits square to the empty forecourt.
Shikanotani Station
Collapsed House at Streetscapes of Yubari, blue corrugated iron cladding covers the front face of a small two-storey.
Collapsed House
Seven Samurai at Streetscapes of Yubari, a hand-painted billboard for Akira Kurosawa's *Seven Samurai* stretches.
Seven Samurai
Umagae Street at Streetscapes of Yubari, wet asphalt runs straight between two rows of low-rise buildings.
Umagae Street
Public Toilet at Streetscapes of Yubari, a single-storey concrete block building sits dead centre against a flat grey sky.
Public Toilet
Fukinoto at Streetscapes of Yubari, butterbur shoots push through bare soil at ground level.
Fukinoto
Cinema Signboards at Streetscapes of Yubari, a corrugated iron warehouse stands under flat grey sky.
Cinema Signboards
House at Streetscapes of Yubari, rusted steel cladding covers the gable end of a timber-framed house.
House
Yubari Backstreet at Streetscapes of Yubari, a narrow concrete lane curves between buildings clad in dark timber.
Yubari Backstreet
Sidestreet at Streetscapes of Yubari, a narrow lane cuts between two-storey concrete and timber buildings.
Sidestreet
Shimizusawa Elementary School at Streetscapes of Yubari, a long, two-storey school building sits behind a screen of bare.
Shimizusawa Elementary School
Adventure Room at Streetscapes of Yubari, a small gabled building sits square to the road, its stucco walls streaked.
Adventure Room
Random Harvest at Streetscapes of Yubari, a hand-painted film billboard sits bolted to the grey cladding of a shuttered.
Random Harvest
Snowmobile at Streetscapes of Yubari, a Yamaha VK540 snowmobile sits on bare gravel beside a quiet road.
Snowmobile
Haikara Zaka at Streetscapes of Yubari, concrete stairs climb a steep hillside between weathered timber-clad houses.
Haikara Zaka
Restaurant at Streetscapes of Yubari, a single-storey brick building with a steep gabled front and arched louvre windows.
Restaurant
04 ABOUT THE PRINTS

How they’re made

Made to order by Brett in Sydney, from the original RAW file. Each print is hand-signed and numbered before it ships.

Paper

Ilford Galerie cotton rag, 310 gsm. Acrylic on metallic gloss, 260 gsm.

Editions

Open in XS and S. Limited in M (100), L (50), XL (25). From $100.

Print tiers →

Lead time

Unframed: 5 to 10 business days. Framed and acrylic: 10 to 20.

05 FIELD NOTE

From the field

Read all field notes
06 PRESS

In the press

Often I'd find myself looking at the machines and architecture and challenging myself to find one single object designed purely for aesthetics. Craftsmanship made way for efficiency in engineering long before I'd even left school.

The Guardian

Brett Patman·2019

theguardian.com

On the LC archive.

People talk about what it was like to work or stay in these places, who they knew, what they did, how great the Christmas parties were, that store man nobody liked, what all the different machines were, how they worked and what became of them.

Broadsheet

Brett Patman·2016

lostcollective.com

On the LC archive.

There's this sense of wonder you get when looking at abandoned buildings. You try to imagine what these spaces were like when they were filled with busy workers trying to meet production targets. And why did they close?

The Guardian

Brett Patman·2019

theguardian.com

On the LC archive.

See press coverage →
08 BY POST · NO SPAM

Read the full story

Articles when they're published. The history behind a place. The day of a shoot. The work between prints. No marketing, no schedule.

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