Japanese photographer Tetsuro Kobayashi (@kobateck) updated his Twitter on November 13, 2020 with a fantastic image that’s gotten more than 109K Likes and almost 18K Retweets.

Kobayashi’s keen eye transformed a steelworks in the city of Muroran, Hokkaido into a near-mystical experience.

The steel factory seemingly emerges from the night fog rolling in from the bay.

With the misty background, the factory’s twinkling yellow and white lights, and its own smoke rising up into the night sky, what would normally be an eyesore has undergone a metamorphosis.

Muroran, the Iron Town

Since the late 19th century, the port city of Muroran developed as an important hub for trade both domestically and internationally. Because of its importance to the steel industry, its industrial plants were bombarded by American battleships as WWII was coming to a close.

To this day, Muroran continues play a role in Japan’s manufacturing sector, producing cement and steel, refining oil, and housing the headquarters of Japan Steel Works.

Reactions from the Web

Kobayashi’s great photography work elicited various praise and comments from Twitter’s users.

To Learn More

Kobayashi has released several volumes of his photography with series titled Ruins Discovery and Factory Discovery. You can check out his website for more information, and follow him on Twitter to see all his latest posts.