A Hidden World; From Ameyama Pass to Yushin Valley 雨山峠からユーシン渓谷へ

Although Kanagwa Prefecture is a part of Metropolitan Tokyo, we have one of the most secluded places in Kanto Region. It has a legendary beauty. The place is called Yushin Valley ユーシン渓谷. The valley is the narrow middle to downstream of Kurokura River 玄倉川 that starts from the east point of Lake Tanzawa 丹沢湖, at Kurokura 玄倉 community. Kurokura River runs to the east for about 12km. The scenery of Yushin Valley from the forestry road was/is gorgeous. In addition to seasonally changing vista of mountains, the water of Kurokura River is so pure. As it runs on the bedrock of white granite typical for deep Tanzawa mountains, Yushin Valley looks like a stream of sapphire blue in fine days. It is named Yushin Blue. People who saw the place told me, “You don’t have to go to Capri for Blue Grotto!” Wooooow. Unfortunately, the area is not possible to enter now.

At least on map, there goes a forestry road, named Kurokura Forestry Road 玄倉林道, along the Kurokura River up to the point where the valley diverts to Hohkisugi Stream 箒杉沢 and Nabewari Stream 鍋割沢. The access to Kurokura River by public transportation is from Odakyu Shinmatsuda Station 小田急新松田駅. We have to catch a bus to Kurokura operated by Fujikyu-Shonan Bus 富士急湘南バス. It’s about an hour bus-ride. From the bus stop we walk a forestry road, called Nakanosawa Forestry Road 中ノ沢林道, to the north for about 1 km to meet with Kurokura Power Plant #1 玄倉第一発電所. The beginning of Kurokura Forestry Road is about 2km north from the Power Plant #1, diverting to the east from Nakanosawa Forestry Road. Moving along Kurokura Forestry road itself was an adventure. It has 9 tunnels all of which do not have any lamp. Several of them have even cranks inside. The forestry road climbs up only slowly for about 300m with 12km. It may be long, but walking surrounded by gorgeous nature, Yushin Blue inclusive, was not so demanding for casual visitors. Say, if you’re a guy who wants to show how macho you are to your city-girlfriend in a stunningly beautiful scenery, the setting was perfect, with a series of pitch black tunnels … There was Yushin Lodge ユーシン・ロッジ at about 8km point from the beginning of Kurokura Road (; er, “there is,” actually, as the building is standing still). The Lodge was managed by the Prefecture. The Office used to allow people who reserved nights’ stay at the hut to drive to Yushin Lodge. The premise was popular among mountaineers as a base camp to the main peaks of Tanzawa, such as Mt. Hirugatake 蛭ヶ岳 (ASL 1672.6m), Mt. Hinokiboramaru 檜洞丸 (ASL 1601m) or Mt. Tanzawasan 丹沢山 (ASL 1567m).

There is a reason why the Prefecture constructed a forestry road in such a deep mountain. Before the diversion point of Hohkisugi and Nabewari Streams, there is a hydroelectric dam, named Kumaki Dam 熊木ダム. Kumaki Dam drops the water via underground aqueduct to another dam, Kurokura Dam 玄倉ダム / Kurokura Power Plant #2, which is in the middle of Kurokura River. At the Kurokura Dam, the water from the catchment area of Kurokura River is gathered. A part is used for electric generation at Kurokura Power Plant #2, and the rest is sent into another underground canal for electric generation at Kurokura Power Plant #1. The electricity produced in these two plants is sold to Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) and fed into the electric grid of Metropolitan Tokyo. So if you’re in Kanagwa, or Tokyo, you may use the power generated there now. It’s the thing of dam in Japan, and so, we can collect dam cards by visiting these places. (About dam cards, my post on April 19, 2019.) In addition, the place has legendary beauty! If you collect the dam cards, please take your selfie with the Kurokura Power Plant #1, and bring it to the Admin Office of Lake Tanzawa at Miho Dam 三保ダム (my post on April 19, 2019). Officers there will give you 4 cards at once: one for Power Plant #1, then for #2, Kurokura Dam, and Kumaki Dam. i.e. You don’t have to visit the power plant #2 and the dams. Why is this short cut? Because Kurokura Forestry Road is closed at the moment. There is no reason for human side to close Kurokukra Forestry Road, right? Mother nature thinks differently, perhaps.

Basically, the area of Kurokura River is a tricky place. Do you remember I told you a famous 1999 drowning accident of 13 people near Kurokura Dam? (My post on August 24, 2018.) It’s a really remote place. In 2006, the Prefecture checked the safety of the Forestry Road, and found large cracks in the third tunnel, named Aozare Tunnel 青崩隧道. The bonus treatment for the customers to Yushin Lodge was terminated, and the Lodge was closed in April 2007. New tunnel was excavated and opened in 2011 as New Aozare Tunnel, but the car usage of Kurokura Forestry Road was strictly limited for the holders of governmental permission … I think it made the legend of sleeping beauty Yushin Valley definitive … Then, on 17 January 2018, a troop of hunters who engaged in prefectural tasks of culling wild deer found another large fractures in the slopes along the route between tunnel #3 and #6. (I know this date, as one of the hunters is my Forest Instructor pal.) It snowed heavily next week. When people returned there after snow, huge landslides happened here and there, and the forestry road was completely blocked. The collapsed soil poured into the river so that, according to a person who went there, the Yushin Valley was not blue, but of whitish mud. As of January 2020, Kanagawa Prefecture sets up locked wire fences at the mouths of tunnels between New Aozare Tunnel and Tunnel #6. The beauty of Yushin Blue is off-limit for us …

Although currently we cannot approach to the middle to downstream of Kurokura River, we are able to enter, a sort of, the upstream of Kurokura River. How? Here comes Ameyama Pass 雨山峠 I reported the devastation last week. At least till the autumn of 2017, from Ameyama Pass to Kurokura Forestry Road, there was a relatively well-organized hiking road which ran from Ameyama Pass along Ameyama Stream 雨山沢 pouring in Kurokura River. We’ve been there last month to find almost all the hiking road is washed away up until the last few hundred meters of a metal plank path secured by bolts and nuts to the bedrock of Tanzawa. Below are the photos I’ve taken there.

Basically, the route from Ameyama Pass to Kurokura Forestry Road is
 on the riverbed of Ameyama Stream.
 We guessed the right-hand side of this photo was the trace
 where once a hiking road ran.

So, there are lots of “ruins” like this, dangling from the steep slope.

Still some installments are still working. Thank God.

The scenery tells why there is no route anymore here …

Smaller dry valleys tell us eloquently what happened.

Hmmmmmmmmm.
 Debris flow will happen again, and again, don’t you think?

This precarious red ribbon shows we’re on the right track.

This section of the route has a better condition.
 I was amazed water runs over the huge white granite.
 The bedrock remains, really.

Almost suddenly, a metal plank path appears. Strange …

Kurokura River is over there.

The route from Ameyama Pass joins with Kurokura Forestry Road at Ameyama Bridge 雨山橋. We proceeded further on Kurokura Forestry Road to Yushin Lodge … I think there have not been many people entered there. The Forestry Road has lots of collapses so that we did a bit of rock climbing in order to progress. Although the remnants of the road are paved, they were buried by thick piles of fallen leaves. Many dry valleys along the road were filled with large debris flow covering the forestry road. We glimpsed the entrance to Yushin Lodge across Kurokura River, and returned to Ameyama Pass due to time constraint. (Remember? Walking the route via Ameyama Pass after dark is suicidal.) The upstream of Kurokura River has a wide riverbed owing to frequent and massive debris flows. It gives us a feeling of “wide open space,” which is actually not at all safe. Large bridges and weirs were standing. I found them a sort of fruitless human struggle … It was the end of autumn. We met many large mosses that can be seen only in deep mountains. The whole landscape was so serene and beautiful …

At the crossing of
 the route from Ameyama Path and Kurokura Forestry Road

Ameyama Bridge is over there.

We recognized lots of footsteps of deer and large mammals on the road.
 It was paved route, but the sandy debris covers the road.

To Yushin Lodge

The collapsed Kurokura Forestry Road

Another collapsed part.
 Huh, it takes an effort to make this route passable again for cars.

The debris flow is covering …

Hmmmmmmm

The bridge to the entrance to Yushin Lodge.
 The weir over there is standing.

Don’t you think it’s beautiful?
 The forest over there is designated as
 one of the best 50 forests in Kanagawa Prefecture.

Kanagawa Prefecture is having a hard time for managing Kurokura and Kumaki Dams both of which are now beyond the locked-off area from Kurokura community. The only way for the officers to go there is on foot via Ameyama Pass. The Office has asked Kanagawa Forest Instructors to give them any information about the access to the area. The senior Instructors are presuming the Prefecture could not leave Kurokura Forestry Road as such because of hydroelectric power generation. At the moment, the prefectural government plans to start repair works this spring, and to open the entire Kurokura Forestry Road by the end of March 2023. Until then Yushin Valley remains as an inaccessible secluded place in our neighborhood. I’m just waiting for the time we can go there more easily. But, if such days come, those lovely large mosses would be gone by lots of tourists. Sad. Which is better in the end?

Climacium dendroides

If you find environmental issues in Kanagawa Prefecture, please make a contact with Kanagawa Natural Environment Conservation Center 神奈川県自然環境保全センター

657 Nanasawa, Atsugi City, 243-0121
〒243－0121　厚木市七沢657
Phone: 046-248-0323

You can send an enquiry to them by clicking the bottom line of their homepage at http://www.pref.kanagawa.jp/div/1644/

Dam Card for “I Love Dam”: Miho Dam 三保ダム

Dam. It’s damned controversial creature. It can be humongous. When we go near, they can invoke awe among us. They can be an object of hate. It destroys communities and natural bounties that will be submerged, in order to satisfy the other people who often live far away from the site. Many times, the beneficiaries of dams have not thought the existence of dam and rural villages that have to cope with complete uprooting ... so our city rats have been, I guess. In 2019, at the time Emperor Akihito abdicates his throne to his son Naruhito, dams in Japan have started to gain strange popularity. They even have trading cards, like Major League Baseball players, or those for Premier League. Let me tell you this week and next my adventures with 2 different dams in Kanagawa Prefecture: Miho Dam 三保ダム today, and Miyagase Dam 宮ケ瀬ダム later.

Looking down from flood gates of Miho Dam

The access to Miho Dam is as to Dam Hiroba Park about which I posted on April 5th. It locates in a north-western corner of the Prefecture, creating Lake Tanzawa 丹沢湖. Its construction began in 1971. After 7 years and 82.3 billion yen (which is about 123.8 billion yen = USD 1.24 billion in 2015), the dam started its operation in 1978. At that time, the construction was to satisfy expected increase in water consumption in the prefecture ... Whether this objective is effective or not might be debatable in this age of slow economic growth and shrinking population. But certainly, Kanagawa Prefecture rarely has water shortage, unlike Tokyo. Thank you. The dam keeps up water of Kawachi River 河内川 that is a tributary of Sakawa River 酒匂川 whose catchment area is 576.5 km². Sakawa River provides roughly 30% of tap water in Kanagawa Prefecture, and water from Miho Dam is about 30% of Sakawa River. It may sounds strange for that amount of money invested in only 10% of water at best? Why did they do such investment? One possible explanation is, the main water sources for Sakawa River are in Shizuoka Prefecture 静岡県 via Ayusawa River 鮎沢川. Damming up neighbor’s water would not be desirable. Another reason could be geographical. To construct a dam to collect water from Sakawa River, that was the max we could expect, and that construction point was the only site for new dam. In any case, the design of the dam shows constraint the engineers faced when they had to build a dam in western Tanzawa. It is a rockfill dam.

On dam property, there are many exhibition panels
 explaining each location for the dam.
 This is to show rockfill structure.

In terms of construction cost, unit price for building concrete dam is definitely cheaper than that for a rockfill. Yet, they had to choose it here as the bedrock for the location was too fragile to sustain a mass of concrete and subsequent water pressure from Lake Tanzawa. This is in Tanzawa Mountains 丹沢 that was created some 6 million years ago by crashes of Eurasian and Philippines Plates. Pushed up sea beds of undersea volcanos are very porous. When we read the blueprint of the dam, beneath the Promenade running from the parking space is the core of the dam with tightly tamped down clay. This part is stabilized from the sides by a bulk of rocks and soils. It creates that 80m tall man-made hill we admired from Dam Hiroba Park. According to the people working for Miho Dam, the place where 5 flood ways now stands was a remnant of a slope of Mt. Furoyama (ASL 928m) 不老山 on the border between Kanagawa and Shizuoka Prefectures. Management of the dam is done by Kanagawa Agency for Public Utility, and Kanagawa Prefectural Office 神奈川県企業庁酒匂水系ダム管理事務所・三保ダム管理事務所. They control the amount of water to be supplied via dam outlets, including flood gates, and mitigate flood damages by storms for downstream.

The former control panel inside the Office.
 Now it’s just a wall decoration,
 and actual job is done with newer displays.

Could you figure out a blue roof at the far end of this photo?
 They are the flood gates.
 Their location subtly depicts the former slope from Mt. Furoyama.

The flood gates of Miho Dam will be opened mechanically
 by these huge machineries.

Water ways from flood gates.
 Hmmmm.
 The slope of Mt. Furoyama must have been relatively sturdy
 so that the engineers chose this point of the dam
 for huge concrete structure and gates.

Seeing the flood gates up close from below.

As this is a manufactured place, people do daily maintenance works inside the mount. The dam has two work tunnels for personnel to check condition of the interior. Recently I had a chance to enter there with the management people, and found the place looks like a scene of Hollywood’s action or sci-fi movies. A narrow and straight tunnel runs deep, and numerous instruments are located at regular intervals. Not much sound could be heard except our excited conversation. In addition to the horizontal tunnels, the inside has ways of trollies going deep down of the dam, where daily maintenance work is performed as well. Hmmmmmm. It’s unsung, but extremely important job … If some structural problem obstructs smooth supply of water from Miho Dam, we live in a city of Kanagawa will have water scarcity before long. In case a collapse of the structure, that’s an enormous disaster, possibly to the downtown of Odawara City 小田原市. Yeah, many, 223 households of 1026 people, were forced to emigrate because of the construction. About 85 ha of private forests were submerged under the Lake. Their record is displayed in Memorial Hall of Lake Tanzawa 丹沢湖記念館 … Yet, the dam is now there, and we have a huge benefit from it. Can we just say “No Dam! It’s evil!”? I think it’s better to say “Not that fast, please.” And it seems to me I’m not alone to feel like that.

An entrance to a tunnel

Hollywood!

A trolley way

A part of the tunnel was home for bats.
 They sidled along when we went near to them.
 Cute.

Is this baby stalagmite on the wall of tunnel
 showing something wrong …?

Memorial Hall of Lake Tanzawa has an old house
 that was moved before the flood.
 It’s a museum now to show the old way of life
 around the Lake Tanzawa.

According to this article, since around the turn of the century, so-called Otaku people started to see dams in deep mountains like scenery we find in virtual interactive games. First it was a sort of counter-counter culture against actions of baby-boomers who started hugging trees to stop dam constructions. Then, actually visiting massive structures that secretly sustain our very urbane life of the 21^st century, the young voice becomes louder to recognize the importance of dams. Yeah, not all dams may be now necessary. Decommissioning dams that ended their function could be a good idea. Look at the removal of Arase Dam 荒瀬ダム, and recovering ecosystem along Kuma River 球磨川 of Kumamoto Prefecture 熊本県. But there is a reason to remove a dam. As of 2018 population of Kumamoto is steadily declining and hence demand for the function of Arase Dam is almost nill. In contrast, we in Kanagawa are still gaining numbers. What is the point to destroy a thing we definitely need? Isn’t it hypocritical to criticize people who are working 24/7 to maintain dams for us, while enjoying a cup of coffee in Starbucks and arguing environmental problems of dams? Number of people visiting dams gradually increased. People exchanged their “I Love Dam” in internet. Then in 2007, a public relations office for Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport picked up such voices and started to hand out cards of dams, aka Dam Cards.

The office for Miho Dam installed wire mesh fence
 over the locked entrance to the operation rooms of flood gates.
 “There are many people these days try to enter that area
 by climbing the original fence,
 despite of 80m below of the point is rock solid concrete.
 We simply don’t understand
 why they risk their lives,
 and set up the higher fence, just in case.”
 Wow.

To “get” one, you first have to visit the dam of your choice, and ask dam personnel, normally in a management office, for the card. It’s free. The front of a card is a photo of dam you are visiting, and the back describes data and characteristics of the dam. It is now a cultic hit. For example, last year was its 40^th birth year for Miho Dam. So, the dam distributed commemorative dam cards for Miho, for free. Now they are auctioned in internet for about 1000 yen (USD10)! Heck, I’ve been there after the stock of the card has gone completely. “sigh” The entire episode about “dam tourism” is now closely watched and studied among policy makers to promote tourism industry in Japan. Oh, yeah.

This is the front of Dam Card for Miho.

This is the back.
 It depicts the spec of the structure,
 and the attractions of Lake Tanzawa.

Next week, I post my adventure of visiting Miyagase Dam. This is the dam that was an initiator of dam tourism in Japan. Yap, going there was thrilling, and April to November is the season to visit there. I tell you why next week. 😉

Dam Management Office for Sakawa River System / Miho Dam Management Office

神奈川県企業庁酒匂水系ダム管理事務所・三保ダム管理事務所

734 Kamioda, Yamakita Town, Ashigara-kami-gun, 258-0203

〒258-0203 足柄上郡山北町神尾田734

Phone: 0465-78-3711, FAX: 0465-78-3371

http://www.pref.kanagawa.jp/cnt/f8018/

Secret Garden for Cherry Blossoms: Dam Hiroba Park of Miho Dam

Spring! And so we are busy checking which part of our town has fully-bloomed cherry blossoms for spring party. Er, well, having a merrymaking with friends beneath a cherry tree in a packed park, like Ueno Park 上野公園, is one kind of fun. Though, you may prefer a calm cup of tea from your thermo and cherry blossoms. Finding a place for that could be a tall order, especially in metropolitan Tokyo area. Then, recently, I had a sort of sales pitch from people who work for Miho Dam 三保ダム of Lake Tanzawa 丹沢湖. “You see, during cherry-blossoms’ season, the scenery in our place is so gorgeous, but very few would come for picnic. Sometimes, the entire place could be a private garden for just one small family to enjoy cherry blossoms … We don’t know why people fail to check our place. *sigh*” OK, so, in this post, I tell you how to go there for your private cherry-blossoms’ festivity. As Miho Dam is in a very deep mountains of Tanzawa 丹沢, the time their trees are in full-bloom is roughly 2 weeks later than in downtown Tokyo. The expected best days to go there are around the weekend of the next week. We still have time to plan!

Actually, the place for cherry blossoms in Miho Dam is not at the dam. It is in a park spreading in the bottom of the dam, called Dam Hiroba Park ダム広場. Miho is a rockfill dam so that what dams up the stream, in this case Kawachi River 河内川, is a man-made gigantic mound. (The structural plan of the dam can be checked here.) The foot of the “hill” which is the other side of Lake Tanzawa is Dam Hiroba Park. I guess a reason why not many people visit the place is the structure of the dam. The altitude of crown of the levee is ASL 325m. Dan Hiroba Park is at ASL 245m. 325-245=80m for difference of elevation. Sure, the wall of Miho Dam appears gentler compared with concrete dams. But when we look down to the direction of the Park, it’s like Karasawa Cirque 涸沢カール we observe from Mt. Hotaka Cottage 穂高岳山荘 (er… yeah, that’s an exaggeration). The slope of the dam rapidly goes down to the bottom, which gives intimidating impression for visitors. Of course, it is not allowed to drive down the slope by car, bike, motorbike …anything. The rise must be treated with care in order to avoid collapse, you know. But the road zig-zagging over the slope of the dam is perfectly paved, and the steps are well-manicured. Walking there is a good way to “experience” physically the scale of this man-made structure in mountainous forests. And, the Park at the base is really pleasant spot to have your lunch, I tell you.

Looking down Dam Hiroba Park
 from the top of the Miho Dam.

The slope of Miho Dam …
 I realized in the end it was an artificial construction.

We can also use steps to go down/up.

To visit Dam Hiroba Park, the standard way would be going to “Miho Dam,” which is the name of the crown of the dam. By car, please set your navigation system to “Miho Dam.” At the entrance of the crest of the dam, there is really an ample parking space. Or you can take a commuter bus of about an hour ride from Odakyu Shin-Matsuda Station 小田急新松田駅 to Tanzawako Bus Stop 丹沢湖. (Time table is here.) The bus stop is in front of the car lot. From the bus stop, there is a wide “promenade” that is the crown of the dam. On your right is man-made Lake Tanzawa, and to the left is that huge slope of artificial hill going down to the Dam Hiroba Park. From the boardwalk, please just walk down and we reach to the Park. Actually, we can go to the Dam Hiroba Park directly by car, making a left to “Hidamarinosato Auto Camping Ground ひだまりの里オートキャンプ場” via Prefectural Road #76 to Lake Tanzawa. After turning, we first observe the Camping Ground along Kawachi River on the left. Simply proceed further to the Park. The parking lots are large and often vacant (closed on Wednesdays). By bus, please get off the bus at Kaminawa Bus Stop 神縄, and go to the direction of Camping Groud as for cars. I think this route might be more interesting to see the detail of the dam. As we advance, the entire body of the dam comes near to us, and we view its 5 flood ways and the mouths of outlets from the bed of the Lake. It’s the route to look a huge dam from the bottom, which is thrilling in itself.

Tanzawako Bus Stop

To the top of the Dam from car park.

Winter of 2018-19 did not provide much rain for Lake Tanzawa.
 The peninsula in this photo is normally an island
 … drought this summer?

The well-paved road on the slope of Miho Dam

Kaminawa Bus Stop

Either by car or bus, please turn left here.

The sign for Camping Ground. Adelante, por favor.

The Dam is approaching to us.
 Could you figure out a tunnel in the left of this photo?
 It’s a mouth of the left outlet of the dam.
 It’s used to control the tonnage of water discharge.

The gate for parking lots on one Wednesday. “Closed.”

Dam Hiroba Park is a prefectural park of Kanagawa spreading over the foot of Miho Dam. It has wide roads for pedestrians to stroll. The flowering trees are chosen for this place which is in the end man-made. The center of the Park is a large lawn yard where we can bring our blanket and relax in a fine day. The point near Kawachi River, or aqueduct from the dam, there is a miniature of Miho Dam and Lake Tanzawa, a diorama model made of pond and garden bushes. In the east of the Park, they have a hydroelectric power plant using regular outlets from the bottom of the dam. The electricity generated here is sold to TEPCO, and becomes a part of power distributed in Kanagawa Prefecture. Looking north, we see an enormous synthetic hill of Miho Dam. And yet, the rock slope covered by grasses does not give us imposing feeling of concrete dam. Hmmmmm. Yeah, this is a good place to have a peaceful party for admiring cherry blossoms with your family ... Oh, by the way, near the parking space, there is a knoll of wood chips that is created from the debris accumulated at the flood ways of the dam. You can take it as much as you like. Locals come here in pick-up and use it for their garden. They are also applied liberally to maintain the roads in Dam Hiroba Park soft and pleasant. Why is it free? Becaaaaause, selling it from this deep mountain costs more than the profit ... a familiar story of Japanese forests …

Dam Hiroba Park of Miho Dam, early March.
 That was the time for plum flowers …

The place also has gazebos and toilets.

Power plant

The water from the dam to the plant
 generates electricity

Let’s have a nap here …

In the park they display some mechanical parts
 of power generator used before.
 It is a water wheel.

It’s a georama of Lake Tanzawa with …

mini flood ways.

They will be in full bloom within 2 weeks from now …

Next week, I tell you about Miho Dam itself, and Miyagawse Dam 宮ケ瀬ダム. They are a kind of contrasting dams, but forming a tag team for tap water in Kanagawa Prefecture. Meanwhile, enjoy your cherry blossom parties in Japan!

Dam Management Office for Sakawa River System / Miho Dam Management Office

神奈川県企業庁酒匂水系ダム管理事務所・三保ダム管理事務所

734 Kamioda, Yamakita Town, Ashigara-kami-gun, 258-0203

〒258-0203 足柄上郡山北町神尾田734

Phone: 0465-78-3711, FAX: 0465-78-3371

http://www.pref.kanagawa.jp/cnt/f8018/