Utopia Spa Garden, Japan

The Utopia Spa Garden is an abandoned Japanese hot spring (onsen) resort. This sprawling leisure complex was built in the late 1980s. It has has been abandoned for over two decades and is slowly succumbing to the ravages of time. The large glass dome is almost devoid of glass now, after years of seasonal snow and storms.

History

Hot springs were first discovered in this area in the Edo Period, which was 800 years ago. This region a skiing resort area since the 1920s. Companies were keen to find ways to bolster the economy during the snow-free months. The Recreation Development Act was established, during the affluent “Bubble Economy” ( バブル景気 ) of the 1980s. This initiative encouraged building leisure facilities and resorts, such as Utopia Spa Garden. These fledgeling developments were built in rural areas by private companies.

The Utopia Spa Garden was built in the later 1980s and was the biggest resort in the region. The facility cost 2.5 billion yen to build and required 10,000 square meters of the forest to be cleared to make way. A water slide complex was added downslope from the main facility in the 1990s. More than 300,00 tourists a year flocked here. More and more hotels began to pop up, and the area and economy thrived.

Inevitably, the Bubble Economy burst in the early 1990s. Poor management and mounting repair costs forced a closure of the spa in the mid-1990s. This closure was meant to be temporary, but the resort never reopened. The owners filed for bankruptcy, with a reported debt of over 9 billion yen.
The spa hotel has sat empty ever since. During the first half of 2019, the local town has begun to assemble costs and plans for demolition.

Main swimming pool

The main swimming pool features a variety of smaller bathing areas and horseshoe-shaped features. This bathhouse must have been beautiful when it was in operation. Nowadays, the floor is littered with broken glass shards from the roof. Small trees and bushes grow in clusters. Some areas have irregular patches of carpet-like green moss.

Near the stairs is a small red children’s slide. An old lifeguard chair watches over the pool, battered and torn after years of neglect.

Hot Tub/jacuzzi area

There is a trio of hot tubs/jacuzzis that are sunk into a round island. A spur of the main pool encircles this island like a moat. There is a small bridge onto the hot tub island. Adjacent to this area sit some old sunbeds

Botanical garden (flower dome)

Next door to the pool is another glass dome. This was the botanical garden which was once filled with plant life. There would have been tall palm trees as well as colourful flowers. Now only wild trees and weeds make their homes here.

We visited Utopia Spa Garden during our Japan Haikyo Tour 2019.