Hill View australia Forgotten desks sit under layers

Forgotten desks sit under layers of dust

then operated as group lodging under Yubari Kanko Kaihatsu Co

The former Asahi Elementary School building was converted to group lodging in the mid-1990s

its heavy frame and mechanisms intact after the works closed in August 1988

A piano stands on the floor of a disused room inside the former Family School Fureai building in Yubari

Hill View australia Forgotten desks sit under layersA residential street climbs the hillside in Yubari, Hokkaido, timber frame homes lining the road, their dark windows and faded cladding set against a grey winter sky. These dwellings were built to house mining families during the decades when Yubari supported a workforce of tens of thousands. Coal production ended in 1990, and the population has been falling ever since. Part of the Streetscapes of Yubari series.