After the coal runs out

In 1993 I traveled to Yubari, a small mining town in the mountains of Hokkaido, Japan.  At the time it seemed like a nice quiet place.  I was staying with the world Judo champion for medical professionals who I had met through friends in Kushiro.  Monocole has a wonderful image show with narration titled Yubari: Ghost town which covers the demise of Yubari after the coal ran out.  There are some beautiful yet stark images from a Japanese photographer that must have been taken early spring or late fall.  The city is gorgeous in the dead of winter when blanketed with snow and the people are wonderful.