171 workers died building it between 1956 and 1963: 186 metres, a record for Japan.
Built between 1956 and 1963 to bring power to Kansai after years of electricity shortages, at 186 metres it is the tallest dam in Japan: the construction, the famous ‘Kuroyon’ project, cost the lives of 171 workers, often while digging tunnels through crumbling rock that required cement grouting techniques never attempted before. The reservoir holds a volume of water equal to about 160 times the Tokyo Dome.
An arch dam of Kansai Electric Power in the Northern Alps, a central stop on the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route, reachable only by mountain public transport (no road for private cars).
ℹ️ The scheduled water discharge (観光放水) can be seen roughly from late June to mid-October; the dam is reached from Kurobeko/Kurobe-daira station on the Alpine Route (ropeway, trolleybus, funicular, one after the other). The highest viewpoint is at 1,508 m, 220 steps above the dam crest; open roughly from mid-April to late November depending on the snow.
🚉 Kurobeko · 5 min walk
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Nearby
Oyama Shrine — Minehonsha (summit of Tateyama)4 kmphoto by Alpsdake · CC BY-SA 4.0
Murodo and Lake Mikuriga-ike6 kmphoto by Raita Futo from Tokyo, Japan · CC BY 2.0
Shōmyō Falls12.4 kmphoto by Saigen Jiro · CC0
Keyakidaira Station – Kurobe Gorge14.5 kmphoto by Yasu ( talk ) · CC BY-SA 3.0