A place to die – the Sakai Hospital Haikyo

I found the Sakai Hospital by chance while driving around in the Nagasaki Prefecture. Its clearly visible from the street and – as a neighbor explained – abandoned since 1970.
But from the inside its practically unvandalized and in rather good condition after all these years…probably because it was one of the most scary places I ever visited. The Sakai Hospital was a “Hospital for the Aged” and looking inside, it was pretty self-explainable what this means: It was a place to die.

Bats surrounded me while I took pictures and the neighbor told me later that he would never go inside because of the snakes and the ghosts…ouch. Maybe this explained also the dead cat I found inside.

Due to humidity, the straw mattresses “exploded” and the straw spilled all over the floor.

There were many, many rooms with these beds and no further decoration on the walls.

The sign says “Room Number 9″ using an old, outdated Kanji.

I guess its clear what this device is for…

One of the main doctor’s offices.

The building was rather long, I estimate around 200 meter and had only one floor.

Due to the total absence of visitors in the last 30+ years, the windows were all intact and so were all glass devices.

The main way of transportation inside this hospital was the wheelchair. I counted at least 40 of them.

This poor cat was probably not the only living being who died in this hospital. It might even fell victim to the snakes.

From the outside, the building started slowly to become one with the nature.

A view along the long, main floor.

More wheelchairs.

From the other side.

In some of the rooms I found a collection of syringes, all kinds of medical devices and even boxes full of original packaged drugs.

As you can see, the building really was in good condition and not even the roof seemed to leak, preserving the hospital in its eery glory.

Knowing that these beds were hosting many, many people who were here to die, it became a sad view. Since there was not much privacy and each room had several beds, patients could see other patients die all the time.

A syringe “made in Tokyo” surrounded by dead insects.

After a last view through the long hallway…

…and a last look at the countless boxes with unknown drugs still wrapped as they were left in 1970, I left the building.

While walking through the hospital, at one stage I had the strange feeling that somebody (or something) was watching me. I also heard unexplainable sounds, but didn’t see anybody. Not that I am easily scared, but this place gave me the creeps. Suddenly I saw a moving shadow just in the corner of my eyes and my heart stopped beating for a moment…then I realized I was surrounded by rather big, black bats and I became a fast moving shadow myself.