Saloon

The saloon sits inside what was once Western Land, the central zone of Western Village (ウェスタン村), a Western American-themed park built in the mountains above Kinugawa Onsen in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. Timber-framed with painted false fronts, the buildings in this zone were constructed to replicate the look of an 1880s American main street. The saloon was one of several facades in a row that also included a bank, a barbershop, a blacksmith, a sheriff's office, a hotel front, and a chapel. The park had its origins in October 1973, when Ōminami Ken'ichi and Ōminami Shizuko opened a predecessor facility called Kinugawa Family Ranch on family-owned land in Kurihara. In March 1982 the facility was formally renamed Western Village and repositioned as a theme park. Animatronic figures, voiced by professional actors, populated the buildings throughout its operational years. Live action shows, a steam railroad running two imported locomotives, and a one-third scale Mount Rushmore replica completed the offering. The park's decline tracked the broader collapse of the Kinugawa Onsen tourism district. Combined overnight stays at Kinugawa and Kawaji hot springs fell from approximately 3.41 million in 1993 to 1.48 million by 2011, a contraction driven by the post-bubble end of group tourism and the 2003 nationalisation of Ashikaga Bank, which had been the main lender to around 70 per cent of accommodation operators in the district. Nissin Debt Collection, having acquired the park's bank debt, applied to the Tokyo District Court for foreclosure in September 2006. Western Village closed to the public on 7 December 2006. By February 2007, all employees had been terminated. This photograph was made in 2014, eight years after closure. The bottles on the bar shelves are still in place. The timbers have softened and begun to give. Sunlight comes through the dust in the air. The false front that was built to look weathered now is weathered, and the distinction between the two has ceased to matter.