Japan Today
national

Kurobe Dam begins water discharge event

34 Comments

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

© KYODO

©2025 GPlusMedia Inc.

34 Comments
Login to comment

OMG! Fifteen Thousand Tons of Water per second !

OMG!! Till October 15th !! How many seconds are there in 3 1/2 months?

A Trillion Times a Trillion Times a Trillion Times?

I do NOT believe it!!

How can the old dam hold SO much water???

OMG!!!

EVEN Niagara Falls does not have SO much water!!!

OMG!!!! I do not believe it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-26 ( +1 / -27 )

"On a sunny morning, the possibility of seeing a rainbow in the sprayed water rises," an official of the company said.

A rainbow amongst all that dirty grey concrete. Hmm …

-9 ( +5 / -14 )

Not the most attractive dam I have to say but the rainbow would be nice and the surrounding scenery is probably attractive.

-4 ( +3 / -7 )

Infrastructure is something where the Japanese are really good in

0 ( +4 / -4 )

Very beautiful area and well worth a visit if in the area.

1 ( +5 / -4 )

All around there is beautiful. I recommend a boat trip. Onsen and fresh river fish lunch. Tateyama sake.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Autumn is the best time for a visit.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

There is a really good gorge hiking trail which starts and finishes at the Dam for day trippers. It a two day walk and the dam is the middle distant with camping available. The hiking trail take you along a beautiful gorge and end up going through the dam which is specy. Best hiked in Autumn you can do the day hike 12 + hours or the two day hike camping over night at the dam.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

The underground railroads and funicular to get there are almost as interesting as the dam.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

A beaver dam in Kurobe would have collapsed killing thousands. One reason for building the dam was to control the snow melt water in the spring which flooded the lower plains.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

餓死鬼

   A beaver dam in Kurobe would have collapsed killing thousands.

> I spoke in jest. Not sure if there even are beavers in Japan.

OK. Many workers were killed building the Kurobe Dam. 10 million workers were hired and 171 died from accidents on this highly complicated and risky construction.

We lived in Nagano for about 10 years and visited the dam area every autumn.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

@Asiaman7

What else would you make a dam out of?

Visiting Kurobe dam is pretty spectacular. I thought the idea of visiting a man made dam when there are so many other nice natural places to visit in Nagano seemed strange. But I was really in awe at the size of it, and seeing the power of the water. It's pretty amazing to think about how they built it in such a remote location. And the hiking and cable cars in the area are great too, definitely want to go back there.

You obviously had a wonderful visit.

Perhaps all that delightful tourist information should have been included in the article. Instead, the writer focused on the possibility of seeing a rainbow amongst concrete.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

@Wallace - I seriously doubt that there were 10 million workers were working on the dam. That would be like 8% of the TOTAL population of Japan and assuming 50/50 gender split, 16% of ALL males.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Construction commenced in 1956, the same year I was born in.

I trust the dam is in better condition than this 68 year old git is.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

bearandrodent

@Wallace - I seriously doubt that there were 10 million workers were working on the dam. That would be like 8% of the TOTAL population of Japan and assuming 50/50 gender split, 16% of ALL males.

All of the data is available online. The 10 million would be the total workforce for the project from beginning to end.

"The construction of Kurobe Dam was a complex feat that lasted from 1956 to 1963. During these seven years of works, 10 million workers were hired and 171 died from accidents on this highly complicated and risky construction site. Kei Kumai’s movie The Sands of Kurobe (Kurobe no taiyô) released in 1968 is an account of this tragic story. The gigantic work is often introduced, even today, as the biggest construction project of the 20th century in Japan."

https://www.kanpai-japan.com/tateyama-kurobe-alpine-route/dam

1 ( +2 / -1 )

The only 10 million concerning the dam would be how many citizen it would supply. 10,000 would a be a over estimating the work force involved. Wallace 10 million means you having infrastructure to house, feed, commuted the size of Osaka. within a few kilometres. Palm to the forehead.

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

I remember this dam when we took a bus tour from Camp Zama when we were stationed in Japan.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

OMG! Fifteen Thousand Tons of Water per second !

OMG!! Till October 15th !! How many seconds are there in 3 1/2 months?

A Trillion Times a Trillion Times a Trillion Times? 

I do NOT believe it!!

I like your enthusiasm but it’s not 15 thousand tonnes, it’s 10-15 tonnes per second, probably par for the course for valves of that bore size. Moreover, I do not suppose it will be continuously released 24x7 at that capacity.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

John-san

you dispute the official figures for the dam construction given on many sites. I think they know more than you do.

10 million employed over the 11-year period. Some of those would have worked offsite.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Some of the passageways and tunnels between the various power stations on the site passed through extremely hot rock; so hot that dynamite would prematurely explode, killing the drilling teams. Even today, one tunnel, (The High Temperature Tunnel) uses only battery powered trains, not gasoline, due to the risk. The tunnel is still at 40 degrees C and smells of sulphur, it's a little claustrophobic down there.

A few times a year, you can pass through all of the tunnels, and the funicular, though the few places are filled very quickly. A new route,  "KUROBE - UNAZUKI CANYON ROUTE", will open in 2024 along many of these tunnels.

NHK did an excellent Project X documentary on it.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

wanderlust

Some of the passageways and tunnels between the various power stations on the site passed through extremely hot rock; so hot that dynamite would prematurely explode

Opportunity for geothermal energy?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

There's now a direct bus from Tokyo to the breathtaking Tateyama mountain range

https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/news/theres-now-a-direct-bus-from-tokyo-to-the-breathtaking-tateyama-mountain-range-062723?utm_source=flipboard&utm_content=topic%2Fjapan

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Phillip Bear

I can accept that it was 10 million man-days.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites