Traveling the coast of northern Japan, here and there you find fragments of older roads that loop away from the highway to snake along the cliffs.

Some of these roads are still passable; some lead to half-forgotten fishing villages. Others, though they are no more than 50 years old, have been entirely abandoned and left to slowly crumble into the sea.

One melancholy October day, Taeko and I were taking a leisurely drive to nowhere in particular. Coming out of a tunnel, we noticed a turnoff to the left and decided to stop. Awed by the apocalyptic scene, I pulled out my camera ...