Lake Kikugawa, Kawakami Dam, & the Tonda River

 

Lake Kikugawa is the name given to the reservoir behind Kawakami Dam not far from Tokuyama on the south coast of Yamaguchi.

The dam itself is nothing special, opened in 1979 for irrigation and water supply, it has a catchement area of 22 sq. km.

Looking back down the valley where I had come from....

I'm heading north out of Tokuyama towards the next pilgrimage temple in the mountains to the north.

The route I have chosen is to first head up the Tonda River, and then later cross over to the Nishiki River which will take me straight to the temple.

I headed off really early as its late November and the days are quite short.

By 8 o'clock the sun is striking the eastern slopes of the mountains revealing autumn colours...

Off in the distance is a gleaming, golden tower on a mountaintop, which my zoom lens reveals to be a giant Kannon statue. This one is called  Himawari Kosodate Kannon and sits atop the 500 meter high Mount Hoshigatake.

I can find very little about it except it was privately built by a local businessman and is open to the publis. At night it is illuminated.

There was not much else to see along the road that ran along the waters edge.

Just lots and lots of forest, much with autumn hues....

Eventually I climbe out of the Tonda valley and over another valley before dropping down into the Nishiki River valley....

I have to admit that this is by far my favorite time of the year to wander off the beaten track in Japan. The days may be short but they are colourfull.

The previous post in this series was on my walk along the coast into Tokuyama the previous evening.

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Narufuchi Dam Sasaguri

 

The Narufuchi Dam is on the Narufuchi River that flows into the Tatara River running through Sasagura and down to Fukuoka City.

It was completed in 2001 and is 308 meters wide and 67 meters high. The reservoir behind it can hold up to 4.4 million cubic meters of water.

Like the vast majority of dams in Japan the ostensible reason for its construction was "flood control" but it also provides some drinking water.

It generates no electricity, and like 70 percent of all dams in Japan it cannot release extra water until it's full.

There is a park below the dam and hiking trails along the reservoir banks. I visited after coming down the mountain towards the end of our first day walking the Sasaguri Pilgrimage.

The previous post was on Saigokuji, a small, unmanned temple just upstream from the reservoir.

Gyonyu Dam

Early on the second day of my walk around the Kunisaki Peninsula I quickly pass the highest point, which I will be revisiting in a few days when I come up from the south. I carry on east towards the coast where I have a room booked for the night.

Partway down I soon come to the resrvoir behind Gyonyu Dam. Finished in 1997 the dam is for "flood control", which is really just code for " we have shedloads of cash to pour as much concrete as we can". The construction industry in Japan occupies a similar position in the economy as does the military industrial complex in the USA.

There are more dams in Japan, per capita, and per acre, than anywhere else. There is not a river that has not been dammed.

The reservoir is quite pretty, especially with the low sunlight and the remnants of Fall color. From here the valley descends and widens as it approaches Kunisaki Town.

Sanbe Dam

The second temple on the Iwami 33 Kannon pilgrimage (actually the first "extra" temple) is located on the mountainside above Sanbe Dam. Thats Mount Sanbe behind.

Seeing how aged the concrete is I was surprised to learn that the dam was not finished until 1996, although construction started in 1980.

The dam is a little over 54 meters high and 140 meters wide at its crest and is composed of 110,000 cubic meters of rock and concrete. Ostensibly the purpose of the dam is flood control and to supply water to Oda City, but its real purpose is to funnel money to construction companies.

The small reservoir has a capacity of 7,000,000 cubic meters of water.