The Village Ironworks   Location: Japan

The Village Ironworks was a family-run iron smelting business located in rural Japan, founded in 1881 by the Tamura family. They enjoyed over 100 years of success.

Business at the ironworks was at its peak between the two world wars, the family were sitting on a small fortune at the time and the site was given a complete make over at the start of WW2, in 1940. The new concrete HQ had a distinctive European feel to it, and featured a large gold coloured star-shaped crest above the entrance, set back from the road behind a locked gate – a stark contrast to the rice paddies and rural farmland that surrounded it at the time. This place was the pride and joy of not only the Tamura family but also the local community, it was considered the most successful smelting plant in all of Northern Japan.

In the 1990s business started to suffer due to the increased use of steal in Japan, and the company finally closed its doors for good in the year 2000. It has sat in ruins since.