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Anti-Zombie Fortress is the nickname given to an abandoned coal mine in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan, mainly due to its unique structural design that can be seen as highly impervious to zombie raids. While the mine shaft has become a popular destination in Japan for haiyakos (廃虚) or "urban excursion of abandoned buildings" since the mid-2000s, photographs of the tower became a subject of "anti-zombie" parodies and online discussions via social news hubsite Reddit in early April 2011.

Origin

On April 1st, 2011, Reddit user "Mitsjol" submitted a picture of the Shime coal mine to /r/pics, titled "This would make an awesome anti-zombie fortress."^[1] In similar vein to other conceptual jokes like Rocket Propelled Chainsaw and Chinese Gundam, other Reddit users quickly responded with a series of photoshopped images, pointing out structural flaws and sharing their own "anti-zombie" designs, as well as creating replicas of the shaft tower in Minecraft.

ACTIVE ZOMBIES DESTROYED ZOMBIES OVER TIME, THERE WILL BE ENOUGH DESTROYED ZOMBIES TO CREATE A RAMP FOR ACTIVE ZOMBIES TO REACH YOU

So, if we assume that bodies stack in a triangle like shape (first one, then two, then three, etc.) and that the average dimensions of a zombie corpse is 5'x2'x6".. At 6" tall when laid down length-wise, you'd need 130 orpses stacked up to reach the bottom-most window To get to 130 corpses, you'd need stacks of 130, 129, 128... or 8515 bodies per row. Now, of course it's unbelievable that there'd only be one row, so if we figure you'd need 5 rows, that's well over 40,000 zombies. 125px = 4ft Being able to withstand 40,000 zombies makes it a damn good zombie apocalypse stronghold. 405px 65ft The minimum height for an effective pile Obviously, math is a rough estimate. 745px-l-120ft

Background: The Tower

Better known as the "Winding Tower of the Shime coal mine"^[2] in Japan, this 47.65 meter (156.3 ft) tall structure was built from 1941 to 1943, remained in operation over 21 years before it was closed down in 1961. According to various travel blog posts on Shime coal mine, the structure remains easily accessible by public transportation and well-preserved in shape to this day.

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As one of the three remaining "winding tower" mine shafts in existence, the structure was designated by the Japanese government as a site of national cultural heritage in July 2007 and was declared an "important cultural property" in December 2009. Since the mid-to-late 2000s, Shime coal mine has become a popular destination for haiyako (廃虚), a fairly recent trend of urban exploration with a focus in abandoned ruins and photography.

Notable Derivatives

SAYS IT CAN PROTEC YOU FROM ZOMBIES HAS HUGE LADDER THAT LEADS INSIDE

Challengers

On April 2nd, another Reddit thread titled "I see your zombie fortress and i raise you a zombie fortress"^[3] was posted, and subsequently was voted to the front page. Later on the same, it received its own Minecraft structure replica as well as a mobile anti-zombie fortress, which received over 600 upvotes within hours.

Mobile Zombie Fortress

St. Louis arn ev CY um Prairie du Rocher CRANE evieve 50 CALIBER Rockwood Trail of Tears State Park LIVE ALONG THE MISSIS SIPPI RIVER AND HAVE SOME OF AMERICA'S FAVORITE SKYLINES AS YOUR BEDR口口 VIEW Cape Giradeau Thebes Miller ai ickliffe ZOMBIE DIESEL ENGINE MOVE LIVING/SLEEPING QUARTERS COOKING QUARTERS AND FIREARM STORAGE New Madrid Hickman PHOTOVOLTAICS LIVING/SLEEPING QUARTERS FOR LIVING NEEDS ROOF DECK Caruthersville POTABLE WATER COLLECTION SAFELY REM VED FR M THE Z MBIE HORDES BY THE MISSISSIPPI'S Luxora Fort Pillow Richardson MIGHTY WATERS, ENJ Frenchman's Bayou THE REMAINS OF THESE St. Claire LIVE CITIES IN PEACE LAWN DROP-DOWN SECURITY DOORS RI BE Norfolk Peters Helena NEED MORE ZOMBIES TO Friar's P CREATE FUEL? MOVE T THE NEXT MAJ R CITY CENTER AND FILL-ER-UP FARM Greenville SL Avon May Lake GROUND TRANSPORT LProvidence Trans Vicksburg Neweliton Grand Galf erproo Create your own Zombie-Diesel.. Accelerate Vidalia sition through the use of LIME. fter just 1 week, Zombie Sludge is ready for processing! Heat sludge to 120 degrees. Note titration levels. Genevieve lis Ciffs Allow oil to seperate from glycerin and remove the glycerine layer Now it is ready to fil your i Point Breeze fuel tank!! PROCESSOR PROCESSOR PROCESSOR MIXING Wash zombie- Morganza STORAGE Allow the water to seperate from the container and alow it to dry Mix lye and methanol in a separate mixing tub, then add the lye-methanol mixture into the processor with the zombie sludge. An unwashed zombie- St. Francisville dscard the water fzarleans Belle Chasse BILITYSEcURITY Port Sulphur

Minecraft Replicas

Search Interest

External References

^[1] Reddit – "This would make an awesome anti-zombie fortress."

^[2] Abandoned Kansai – Winding Tower of the Shime coal mine

^[3] Reddit – I see your zombie fortress and i raise you a zombie fortress

^[4] Reddit – Minecraft version

^[5] Reddit – Let's not forget the mobile zombie fortress

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Anti-Zombie Fortress