Yubari, Hokkaido, Japan · Photographed in Yubari, 2018
A derelict gas station stands silent in Yubari, Japan. Rusted pumps and faded signage mark a past era. This structure reflects the city's decline after its coal mines closed. Weeds push through cracks in the forecourt.
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.
$50.00 AUD
SizeXS
TypeUnframed
ColourN/A
Ships within 10 business days · signed & numbered
In situ
Print datasheet · certificate of authenticity
The data is the authenticity.
Paper
Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm
Process
Giclée
Paper size
290 × 200 mm
Year photographed
2018
Location
Yubari, Hokkaido, Japan
Printed
Sydney, 2026
COA · Every print ships with a signed certificate, edition number and paper stock reference.
Shot on a NIKON D810, 14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8at 15mm, f/8,1/320,ISO 100.
About this print
A former petrol station sits on the way into Yubari, Hokkaido. The pump island is intact, with two pumps under the original canopy, but the pumps themselves are dry and the canopy has been damaged. The retail building behind the pumps is single-storey, weatherboard, the windows boarded over. A small carwash bay extends from one side. The forecourt is cracked concrete with grass coming up through the joints. The sign at the road frontage is partially fallen, the panel hanging off its post.
Yubari's population at peak in 1960 was around 116,000. By 2018, when this photograph was made, it had fallen below 8,000. A petrol station at the entrance to the city served traffic that doesn't come any more: shift workers driving in for the mines, families coming back from holidays, freight trucks moving coal, gear, and supplies. As the volumes fell, stations like this one stopped being viable, and one by one they closed. The next operating station is now twenty kilometres back along the road. The closed station in this photograph is the first sign for a driver coming in that the town does not work the way it used to.
From the field notes
Former gas station on the way into Yubari.
— Brett Patman
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