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Kyodo

After visitors descend stairs winding 50 metres (164 feet) below ground, they emerge to an otherworldly sight: a cavernous, dimly lit space with towering pillars reminiscent of a temple in ancient Rome.
“The moment I stepped down the stairs and saw the entire space, I was astonished,” said Chen, a tourist who visited the location in Kasukabe, a city just north of Tokyo, in Japan’s Saitama prefecture.
The facility, one of the world’s largest underground stormwater discharge channels, has come to be described as an “underground shrine” by many.
The temple aesthetic comes from 59 towering pillars within the space, each measuring seven metres long, two metres wide and 18 metres high.

Officially known as the Metropolitan Outer Area Underground Discharge Channel, the facility is visually reminiscent of Istanbul’s ancient underground Basilica Cistern water reservoir.
Its unique atmosphere has made it a popular location for filming and has given people like Chen from China a reason to visit.
Chen, who wished to reveal only her family name, said she would recommend others make the journey, not just for the visual impact but also to see “how Japan manages its flood control system”.
Nearly 40km (25 miles) from Tokyo, the facility collects overflow from small and mid-sized rivers and drains the water to Tokyo’s Edo River through a 6.3km tunnel system that also uses shafts and pumps.
“The facility has prevented more than 150 billion yen [US$1 billion] in flood damage since full operation began in 2006,” said Yoshio Miyazaki, a land ministry official who heads the operation.

The facility was built as a “major pillar of water management” for the vulnerable Nakagawa-Ayase river basin, which accumulates water easily because of its bowl-shaped topography, Miyazaki said, adding that “rapid urbanisation from 1955 and concentration of people and resources have led to more and more water disasters”.
Taking 13 years to build at a cost of more than 230 billion yen, the facility has a pressure-adjusting water tank and shafts large enough to fit the Statue of Liberty.
It takes in water about seven times a year on average and it has never yet filled to capacity, Miyazaki said.
He was, however, quick to dispel the notion that the facility protects Tokyo entirely, saying it only directly safeguards three of Tokyo’s 23 wards and parts of nearby Saitama prefecture.
Managing water has long been a necessity for Japan, where communities and livelihoods began to thrive after paddy farming was introduced during the Yayoi period, around 2,000 years ago.
Water management began to be undertaken on a larger scale during the Edo period (1603-1868), when Japanese warlord Tokugawa Ieyasu established the government in Edo, the metropolis now known as Tokyo.

Nobuyuki Tsuchiya, deputy director general of the Japan Riverfront Research Centre, said over the years Tokyo had weathered a number of flooding incidents, such as a fatal downpour in 1910 that cut Japan’s gross domestic product by 4.3 per cent, and Typhoon Kathleen in 1947.
According to government data, the flood damage caused by Typhoon Kathleen would amount to 34 trillion yen (US$234 billion) when adjusted to present-day values.
Tsuchiya, who worked for Tokyo’s flood-prone Edogawa ward, cited, for example, a survey from a Swiss-based insurance firm in 2014, and another one in 2002 from a German reinsurance firm, naming Tokyo and nearby Yokohama as among the world’s most at-risk metropolitan areas.
Over the years, the public and private sectors in Tokyo and elsewhere in the country have implemented a host of measures, from building flood-control-related infrastructure, including reservoirs, dams, dykes and super levees, to introducing water-resilient housing and educating residents about disaster preparedness.
In Kita ward, the old red Iwabuchi sluice gate is a reminder of past efforts by Tokyo to help prevent flooding of the Sumida River, while a new blue version has replaced it. Discharge channels, though differing in design to the Kasukabe cistern, also exist in Osaka prefecture and other areas.

But in recent years, Tokyo has increasingly faced risks posed by climate change, Tsuchiya said, pointing to the challenges of sudden, heavy downpours, known in Japan as “guerilla rain”.
Data from the Japan Meteorological Agency showed that for the 10 years from 2015 to 2024, average annual heavy rainfall measuring 50mm per hour or more increased by about 1.5 times compared with the decade starting in 1976 – the first decade for which data is available.
While the agency said the metropolitan area can withstand rainfall rates of 50mm per hour, Tsuchiya pointed out that they now sometimes reach 100mm per hour in Japan, which is hit by typhoons seasonally.
Most recently, Typhoon Hagibis wreaked havoc on seven prefectures and disrupted the 2019 Rugby World Cup, although Tokyo escaped its wrath.
A key flood-regulating mechanism closer to central Tokyo is the Kanda River Ring Road No. 7 Underground Regulating Reservoir.
The 4.5km-long tunnel is being expanded to link channels for overflow from the Shirako and Kanda rivers and carry floodwaters into Tokyo Bay by fiscal 2027.

The Tokyo metropolitan government has drawn up a road map to make the capital, home to around 14 million people, resilient to various major risks: storms and floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, pandemics, and power shortages, as well as communications failure.
While Kasukabe’s hidden water infrastructure continues to do the job of keeping Tokyo and its vicinity from being inundated, disaster management experts say the facility alone is not enough for sustainable river management.
Tsuchiya stressed the need to balance disaster management with future-focused measures, such as encouraging real estate operators to build raised houses, and cited the “Room for the River” concept introduced in the Netherlands.
“Flooding does not happen just anywhere. It always occurs at the same places, so we can prepare for it,” Tsuchiya said, labelling water disasters as largely “man-made”.
“Water management is not only about managing water at one time, but it is about how to take care of water so that 100 years or more from now, we can have a prosperous future.”


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Incredible underground flood protection facility in Japan is one of world’s largest

KASUKABE, SAITAMA, JAPAN - 2016/06/01: GCANS Metropolitan Area Outer Underground Discharge Channel  is an underground water flood control project.  It is the largest underground flood water facility in the world and was built to control the overflow of Tokyo&apos;s rivers during Japan&apos;s monsoon seasons.  GCANS has five large containment silos connected by six kilometers of tunnels.  Its most famous feature is the large cistern with giant pillars that resemble an underground cathedral or temple. The main job of GCANS is to store, then divert, the overflow of water into the Edo River to avoid flood damage. (Photo by John S Lander/LightRocket via Getty Images)

The pressure-adjusting water tank of the Metropolitan Area Outer Underground Discharge Channel in Kasukabe, near Tokyo, Japan, contains 59 towering pillars each 18 metres high. Photo: LightRocket via Getty Images

The facility took 13 years to build at a cost of more than US$1 billion. Photo: Getty Images

Shafts at the facility are large enough to fit the Statue of Liberty. Photo: Getty Images

A worker opens the door leading down to the facility’s pressure-adjusting water tank. Photo: Getty Images

The pressure-adjusting water tank is reached via 50 metres of stairs. Photo: Getty Images

A computer screen displays tank information in the control room of the facility. Photo: Getty Images

Sento running in Japan blends bathhouse culture and exercise. 4 places in Tokyo to try it

Men bathing in Koganeyu, a sento, or traditional public bathhouse, in Tokyo. Visitors to Japan can go “sento running”  – have a run from a bathhouse and return for a bath or shower, and sauna. Some rent out running gear. Photo: Yurika Kono

Denkiyu, depicted in Wim Wenders’ film Perfect Days, is a sento in Kyojima, Tokyo. Photo: Emil Pacha Valencia

Kosugiyu is a sento, or bathhouse, in Koenji, a district to the west of Shinjuku. Photo: Emil Pacha Valencia

Totoken is a neighbourhood bathhouse that provides running station services. Photo: Erika Na

At Asics Run Tokyo Marunouchi, runners have a wide-ranging option of shoes and clothes to choose from. Photo: Erika Na

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A glass roof has been built over the reservoir. Photo: Martin Chan

A view to show the latest development in Bishop Hill, Shek Kip Mei. 18NOV21 SCMP/Martin Chan

Visitors visit the service reservoir in Shek Kip Mei's Wo Chai hill (Bishop Hill) is now being demolished. Officially known as the "Sham Shui Po Fresh Water Break Pressure Tank", the roman style architecture was built before 1930. The area is a popular hiking spot for residents. 28DEC20 SCMP / Winson Wong

In rural Japan, railway stations and empty properties repurposed to serve tourists

Inn My Life, a hotel at an unstaffed train station in Shizuoka, Japan. Photo: Instagram/cholibura_96

Satologue, a restaurant and sauna housed in a 130-year-old building in Okutama, Tokyo, is one of many rural Japanese renovations aimed at drawing tourists. Photo: Instagram/morijunjunmori

Two young guests at Inn My Life, a lodging in a disused part of unstaffed Futamata-Hommachi Station in Shizuoka prefecture, wave at a passing train. Photo: Instagram/inn_my_life

Inn My Life, a one-room hotel in an unused part of the unstaffed Futamata-Honmachi Station in Shizuoka, central Japan. Photo: Instagram/cholibura_96

The bedroom of Inn My Life, a hotel built inside Futamata-Hommachi Station in Shizuoka, Japan. Photo: Instagram/relux_design

Satologue restaurant and sauna is the first project of the Marugoto Hotel, which is renovating abandoned houses and unstaffed train stations between Ome and Okutama in rural western Tokyo to boost tourism. Photo: Instagram/morijunjunmori

Dishes at Satologue. Photo: Instagram/satologue

The 130-year-old building that houses Satologue used to be used for fish farming. Photo: Instagram/yujiokada0714

A guest at Satologue enjoys a meal with a view. Photo: Instagram/yujiokada0714

Bustay, where guests can stay the night on board a decommissioned bus, and the adjacent Ugusu information centre, which has also been converted into an accommodation space. Photo: Instagram/com_nishiizu 

The decommissioned bus at Bustay has been furnished with three beds and a table. Photo: Instagram/visititoproject

Bustay lit up at night. Photo: Instagram/visititoproject

Travel influencer couple on horror India gang rape and Taliban interrogation during epic 6-year motorbike trip

Travel influencers Fernanda (right) and Vicente take a break in Spiti Valley, in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, during their six-year motorbike trip. The couple open up about Fernanda’s gang rape in India and other experiences during their trip, including being interrogated by the Taliban in Afghanistan. Photo: Instagram / @vueltaalmundoenmoto

Fernanda and Vicente in Konya, Turkey. Photo: Instagram / @vueltaalmundoenmoto

Fernanda with a rented motorbike in Sri Lanka. Photo: Instagram / @vueltaalmundoenmoto

Fernanda and Vicente in Jodhpur, India. Photo: Instagram / @vueltaalmundoenmoto

Fernanda and Vicente camp near Kalut, in Iran’s Hormozgan province. Photo: Instagram @vueltaalmundoenmoto

Fernanda and Vincente at the Khunjerab Pass, in the mountains on the border of Pakistan and China. Photo: Instagram / @vueltaalmundoenmoto

Fernanda makes friends in Rajasthan, India. Photo: Instagram / @vueltaalmundoenmoto

Fernanda and Vicente in Samarra, Iraq. Photo: Instagram / @vueltaalmundoenmoto

Fernanda in Kuwait, approaching Saudi Arabia. Photo: Instagram / @vueltaalmundoenmoto

Fernanda and Vicente in Cappadocia, Turkey. Photo: Instagram / @vueltaalmundoenmoto

Fernanda and Vicente near Passu, a small village in northern Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltistan region. Photo: Instagram / @vueltaalmundoenmoto

Lifestyle

Travel & Leisure

People can visit the flood protection facility in Kasukabe, which safeguards Tokyo and has shafts large enough to fit the Statue of Liberty


People can visit the flood protection facility in Kasukabe, which safeguards Tokyo and has shafts large enough to fit the Statue of Liberty.


Incredible underground flood protection facility in Japan is one of world’s largest

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}People can visit the flood protection facility in Kasukabe, which safeguards Tokyo and has shafts large enough to fit the Statue of Liberty

People can visit the flood protection facility in Kasukabe, which safeguards Tokyo and has shafts large enough to fit the Statue of Liberty