S P O T ／ SPOT-027

Former Maya Kanko Hotel ("Mayakan")

旧摩耶観光ホテル（マヤカン）きゅうまやかんこうほてる

Built in 1929 at the midpoint of Mount Maya above Kōbe, the Maya Kanko Hotel was an Art Deco vision of mountain luxury — a destination resort accessible only by cable car, its terraces commanding views of the bay and the Ōsaka plain. It operated until 1993. Since then, the forest has been steadily reclaiming it in what can only be described as a collaboration between architectural history and botanical patience, and the result is what urban explorers and cultural commentators have called, without any apparent irony, the most beautiful ruin in Japan. In 2021, the abandoned hotel was designated a Registered Tangible Cultural Property by the Japanese government — a recognition that a ruin, as a ruin, can have cultural value sufficient to merit official protection. This is, to put it mildly, an unusual administrative position, and it reflects the degree to which Mayakan has become a genuinely beloved object in Japanese cultural life. Access is normally restricted, but guided tours are occasionally organized through heritage groups.