An urban explorer has uncovered a hauntingly preserved resort town in Japan, where towering hotels sit crumbling along a riverside cliff. It’s been untouched for over three decades, according to reports.

Luke Bradburn, 28, stumbled upon the forgotten tourist destination of Kinugawa Onsen during a trip to Japan in early 2024. 

While his original goal was to document the Fukushima exclusion zone, Bradburn ventured beyond the area and found a “ghost town.”

TOWER OF LONDON DIG REVEALS BLACK DEATH-ERA SKELETONS BELOW POPULAR TOURIST SITE: ‘TIP OF THE ICEBERG’

“I was scouting other nearby locations when I came across this entire district of abandoned hotels,” Bradburn told news agency SWNS. 

“It was like walking into a ghost town.”

An explorer found a hauntingly preserved resort town in Japan, where towering hotels sit crumbling along a riverside cliff. It’s reportedly been untouched for over three decades. (Luke Bradburn / SWNS)

Kinugawa Onsen was once a bustling resort town renowned for its natural hot springs. It began to decline in the early 1990s during Japan’s economic downturn. 

As tourism dried up, many hotels shuttered. 

But due to the country’s strict property laws, the buildings were never demolished. Many remain in legal limbo after owners either died without heirs or disappeared altogether, according to SWNS.

“It was like walking into a ghost town.”

“It’s very different in Japan,” Bradburn said. 

“The crime rate is so low that abandoned buildings don’t get looted or destroyed as quickly.”

TOURISM SURGE CREATES ‘NEW CHALLENGE’ AS VISITORS TRANSFORM MT. FUJI INTO ‘TRASH MOUNTAIN’

He added, “In some cases, they need the owner’s permission to demolish, and if the owner died, they legally can’t for 30 years.”

What remains today appears to be an eerie scene, with an entire street of massive, multi-story hotels slowly rotting away. 

Luke Bradburn, pictured above, stumbled on the forgotten tourist destination of Kinugawa Onsen during a trip to Japan in early 2024.  (Luke Bradburn / SWNS)

Bradburn, who is from Greater Manchester and is now a full-time explorer, spent six hours navigating overgrown paths, broken staircases and precarious drop-offs around five or six of the roughly 20 structures, said SWNS.

He would often move between buildings through interconnecting corridors.

“From the outside, it’s all overgrown and decaying,” he said. “But inside, some of the rooms were pristine – like no one had touched them in decades.”

“Some of the rooms were pristine.”

Bradburn found himself in hotel lobbies filled with forgotten remnants of the past – traditional Japanese onsen baths, untouched rooms, even drinks still sitting on tables, the same source reported.

“One of the strangest things was walking into a lobby and seeing a massive taxidermy deer and falcon still standing there,” he recalled. 

Bradburn, above, described the “surreal” experience of discovering buildings completely devoid of people but “filled with forgotten remnants of the past.” (Luke Bradburn / SWNS)

“It was bizarre. I’d seen pictures of it online before, and then suddenly we were face to face with it.”

Some spaces felt like time capsules, he said.

NEW TSA PROGRAM LAUNCHED TO ELIMINATE DOUBLE SCREENINGS FOR INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS

“We found arcade machines still filled with toys, tables set with drinks and rooms that looked like they hadn’t been touched in decades,” Bradburn said. 

“It was surreal.“

“One of the strangest things was walking into a lobby and seeing a massive taxidermy deer and falcon still standing there.” (Luke Bradburn / SWNS)

He said much of the area was extremely dangerous to navigate. 

“There were floors missing, staircases hanging down, parts where you had to backtrack because everything had collapsed,” he said. 

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER

“It was really unsafe in some areas. You had to be so careful.”

Bradburn said the entire experience, overall, was emotional and disorienting. 

“We found arcade machines still filled with toys, tables set with drinks, and rooms that looked like they hadn’t been touched in decades.” (Luke Bradburn / SWNS)

“Each [building] felt like stepping into a time capsule,” he said. 

For more Lifestyle articles, visit foxnews.com/lifestyle

“You get a sense of what life must’ve been like here at its peak – and then it just stopped,” he said. 

“It’s eerie, sad and fascinating all at once.”

“It was really unsafe in some areas. You had to be so careful,” said Bradburn, describing the experience overall as emotional and disorienting.  (Luke Bradburn / SWNS)

Kinugawa Onsen still draws some curious visitors, said SWNS, but the ghost town of abandoned hotels stands as a quiet and mysterious relic of Japan’s tourism boom and bust. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Much of it remains hidden in plain sight, as Bradburn’s experience indicated – still waiting to be further discovered.