Introducing Kuroneko; A Lone Sunny

JNC Blog is proud to present a new blogger, Skorj, aka kuroneko, a photojournalist that we know very little about, except that he just cold waltzed in here and wowed everybody with a bunch of killer snaps. Oh yeah, he lives in Japan and has a penchant for sniffing out J-tin relics. What more could you ask for? So without further ado, let’s get to his first post. -Ben

A Lone Sunny.

Nestled in the hills of Tochigi, perhaps three hundred kilometers from Tokyo is the old copper mining town of Mato. With the mines closed, and literally the last station at the end of the line, it does not get many visitors any more.

With a varied history, it started operating in the 1600s, and some installations still resembled the smelting scenes from Princess Mononoke. During World War Two, it was the site of a Prisoner-of-War camp, holding many Allied soldiers until cessation of hostilities, and some camouflaged buildings can still be seen. In the 1950s, it was the site of large-scale pollution from the mines, and as a result one of the first triggers for ecological awareness in Japan.

With the departure of its residents, most of the facilities are now left unattended and many old cars litter the driveways and fields as result. Trucks, kei-cars, the occasional saloon, and this B10 Datsun Sunny wagon, looking particularly forlorn wedged against a tree on a mining side road. Surprisingly perforation free, it has been stripped of its parts – implying perhaps it has been there at least since Sunny parts were needed.

Being so remote from much activity, it will likely sit here for a few more years yet…