January 2020 - Nakano Dark Tourism

I, Nakano-chan, am delighted to announce that we have launched the slideshows of the maps of the past and present of the ex-Army NAKANO SCHOOL and the now-defunct NAKANO PRISON in our Nakano Dark Tourism site.

The Imperial Japanese Army Nakano School slideshow of seven maps, from 1936 to the present, shows the exact geological scope of the clandestine spy academy that had existed in the north of Nakano Station. The school covered areas now known as the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Hospital, campuses of Meiji and Teikyo Heisei universities and part of Nakano Shiki no Mori Park.

The other slideshow about Nakano Prison contains four maps from 1923 to the present. The prison was closed in 1983 and the place is now Heiwa no Mori Park, a Tokyo metropolitan government sewage disposal facility and some buildings linked to the Justice Ministry.

Enjoy them!

Google Maps recently began displaying Nakano Prison Main Gate in Tokyo, Japan, citing it as a HISTORICAL LANDMARK!

We are very pleased by the news because we have promoted the relic as one of the main Dark Tourism sites in Nakano Ward, along with Nogata Water Tower and Nakano School memorial.

The gate, the only remaining part of the now-defunct Nakano Prison, had not existed on the maps before. Now visitors and tourists are able to go close to the gate, although it’s been closed within fences, with the instruction of the maps.

The Nakano Ward government has not decided on the fate of the gate. But its education board decided in mid-January 2020 to consult the local cultural property protection committee on the value and conservation plans of the gate.

Please wait for follow-ups!