My first view of Tama Hills Recreation Area is of a quirky 1980s miniature golf course that belies the dark happenings hidden in the hills beyond. Today, Tama functions as a recreation center for the U.S. Military, but the area was first developed by the Japanese Imperial Army in 1938 as Tama Arsenal, a facility for producing and storing bombs and munitions. When Japan surrendered the area at the end of WWII Japanese soldiers tried to sabotage the facility with picric acid, but don’t worry, U.S. troops cleared the area of dangerous chemicals and explosives. I enter the main gate, pick up a map at the information hut, and chose to take the route to the right towards the golf course.
As I begin to walk the worn road, pieces of which date to the 1940’s, the city around me begins to disappear. Walking the quiet, shaded trail, it is hard to imagine that in 1940 over 2,000 people were employed here producing bombs that were used around the Pacific by the Japanese military.
I first pass the archery range, picnic area, and horse stables. The first abandoned buildings I encounter are storage warehouses erected by the U.S. Air Force during the Korean Conflict. These give the appearance of a disused movie set and are very photogenic. In these buildings, along with the Japanese built facilities, the U.S. Airforce stocked and stored 20,000 tons of bombs and munitions in support of the Korean Conflict. The bombs were later transported by truck and rail to Yokota Air Base, 20 kilometers away, where they were loaded on to aircraft destined for Korea.
The shaded road carries on, overgrown on both sides. It is easy to understand how the sight went undetected throughout WWII. I am aware that a highway and train line lie just beyond the valley in which I walk, but I cannot see or hear them. Only the chirping of birds and occasional rustling of a critter in the underbrush disturb the silence. Continuing along, I spy the first of many descriptive plaques placed by the Engineers Corp that explain the history of the area.
I arrive at an overgrown hollow in which nestle the broken concrete Factories where the munitions were prepared. The site has an eerie feel. The lush canopy brings out your inner Indiana Jones. I can almost convince myself I am the first to discover this place, and it’s a concrete lover’s dream. I am also thrilled to discover that the buildings are accessible, you can walk into and through them, and they are big. I continue down the road, the walking is easy with a few small hills and the ruins are everywhere with marker signs aiding you along the way.
The Old Road lead me to fox holes, past an anachronism of a paint ball field, and on to the Windy Tunnels, and Stairs to Nowhere. As I walked along, I pass the yurts(!) and cabins available for rent, and soon come to an impressive concrete elevator that was used to lift barrels of munitions from the powder plant below to the top of a ridge where they were stored. I sought out the Powder Factory past the Samurai Cabin and then carried on just past the modern lodge area (you can have a meal or grab a snack here) where a silent furnace rests, as if exhausted, below giant cedar trees. As a walker and a photographer, this was a near perfect place to spend a day.
Tama Hills Recreation Area is currently maintained and operated by the 374th Force Support Squadron at Yokota Air Base; you need a U.S. military ID or be the guest of someone with a U.S. military ID to enter the site.
https://yokotafss.com/tama-hills/
Omaru, Inagi, Tokyo 206-0801
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