Public Bath Access

Provenance

Camera: NIKON D810
Lens: 14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Settings: 15mm · f/9.0 · 0.8s · ISO 100
Paper: Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm

Concrete steps descend through a corridor at Kinugawa Kan where the ceiling has come down, exposed laths and fallen beams forming a canopy of wreckage above the staircase. A large circular speaker cone hangs from the debris overhead, its wooden mounting board tilted at an angle. On the first step a cluster of artificial flowers, white and pink with red berries, sits on a mound of rubble. A rusted green handrail runs along the right wall toward a faint rectangle of light at the far end.

Edition

Open edition

Open edition
Printed to order, no fixed quantity. Each print is hand-signed by the photographer.

Limited edition
A fixed number of prints exist. Once sold, the edition closes permanently. Each print is individually numbered and signed.

$100.00 AUD

Colour

Signed, numbered, with COA. Made to order in 5 to 10 business days (unframed). Shipped in protective packaging with edition certificate, paper-stock reference and a printed care guide.

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In situ

Public Bath Access at Kinugawa Kan, black-framed print displayed in situ on a wall.

Public Bath Access at Kinugawa Kan, raw timber-framed print displayed in situ on a wall.

Public Bath Access at Kinugawa Kan, glass print displayed in situ on a wall.

01 PROVENANCE

Print datasheet

Title: Public Bath Access
Series: Kinugawa Kan
Catalogue: KKA-019
Process: Giclée
Captured: 9 May 2016
Camera: NIKON D810
Lens: 14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Aperture: f/9.0
Shutter: 0.8s s
ISO: 100
Focal length: 15 mm
Paper: Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm
Paper size: 297 × 210 mm
Location: Nikko, Tochigi, Japan
Authenticity: C2PA verified provenance →
Recognised by: Highly Commended in Multimedia at the 2016 National Trust of Australia (NSW) Heritage Awards

02 LOCATION

Nikko, Tochigi, Japan

Map · Mapbox · OpenStreetMap

03 THE STORY

About this print

The access corridor to the public bath at Kinugawa Kan runs from the main hotel through to the bathing wing, the narrow timber-floored passage lined with the standard ryokan walkway treatment: timber-panelled walls to waist height, plastered above, with a small stone bench partway along for guests waiting in slippers between the bath and the room. The walls carry the noren-curtain hooks at the door to each bathing area. The floor is timber boards laid in long parallel runs, scuffed at the centre where the heaviest foot traffic ran. A small window high in the wall admits daylight from the gorge side. The walls show damp staining in patches.

The access corridor was the practical route between the main accommodation block and the Kappa Onsen and other bathing rooms downstairs at Kinugawa Kan. Guests walked it many times per stay: after check-in, before dinner, before bed, before breakfast. The hotel staff used the same corridor to deliver towels, robes, and the small cleaning items the bath rooms required across the day. After the June 1999 bankruptcy, the corridor was sealed at both ends. The bench, the hooks, and the original woodwork have stayed in place. The bathing areas it led to are dry and unused.

04 FROM THE FIELD NOTES

Stone steps descend into a narrow corridor choked with debris. The upper floor has collapsed inward. Splintered timber beams, fractured plaster and sections of ceiling hang suspended at sharp angles. A pale green handrail runs along the right wall, still bolted in place. Concrete slabs and grey dust cover every surface. Near the base of the wreckage, a bouquet of artificial flowers sits upright among the rubble. Pink and white petals. Colour still intact.

Brett Patman

The series

Kinugawa Kan

2016 · 22 photographs

Hoshi Takashi (星堯) incorporated Yugen-gaisha Kinukawa-kan Honten (有限会社きぬ川館本店) on 31 December 1942, on the Kinugawa River gorge in what is now Nikko City. The hotel grew to nine storeys, 70 guest rooms, one restaurant, and the Kappa-buro (かっぱ風呂) hot-spring bath on the river. In June 1999 the company filed for bankruptcy with debts of approximately 30億円, the first hotel at Kinugawa Onsen to fail in the post-bubble era.

View all in this series →

05 SIZE GUIDE

Print sizes

The anatomy view shows what this finish is as a physical object: paper margin, mat band, frame depth, acrylic profile. The comparison strip shows how each size sits relative to the others at true scale. Click a size or a finish to update both.