S P O T ／ SPOT-020

Yunoyama Onsen Abandoned Hotel District

湯の山温泉廃墟群（杉屋旅館等）ゆのやまおんせんはいきょぐん

Yunoyama Onsen has been a hot spring resort since the Edo period — nearly 400 years of travelers soaking in the volcanic waters of the Suzuka mountains. At its postwar peak, the resort town was a Shōwa-era paradise of ryokan inns and resort hotels catering to factory workers and families from the surrounding industrial cities. Then the economics shifted, and the inns began to close. The Sugiya Ryokan, one of the oldest inns in the entire onsen region, is among the structures left behind — its distinctive architecture now slowly surrendering to the mountain. What was once a destination for celebration (anniversaries, honeymoons, company retreats) is now a photogenic ruin that draws a different kind of visitor: urban explorers, horror enthusiasts, and anyone drawn to the specifically Japanese phenomenon of the abandoned resort, which carries an emotional charge unlike any other kind of ruin. In 2024 and 2025, the Sugiya was officially developed as a horror event venue — a telling commentary on the economic logic of Japanese ghost tourism.