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Shikotsu-Tōya NP., Hokkaido
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A disused construction tunnel stays around 10°C year-round, so it now ages local wine and tea. A tea blend matured there won a 2016 Japanese Tea Award Fine Products prize—the first such Hokkaido entry.
The Toyohira River, held in part by Hoheikyo and neighboring Jozankei dams, supplies about 98% of Sapporo’s tap water. The two dams together provide more than 80% of the city’s water supply.
The 53-meter Kamui-Nisey Bridge reaches over the reservoir without resting on the dam: it is cantilevered from the bank, in a first-of-its-kind Japanese design. Its name preserves the Ainu place-name meaning “divine cliff.”
In 1926, a literary outing of more than 60 writers saw Kunibun Seigai give the gorge its name, Hōheikyō; until then it was called Oku-Jozankei. The dam’s reservoir later submerged the original canyon.
Electric vehicles have carried visitors through the protected approach to Hoheikyo since 1976—decades before today’s EV boom. The bus operator received a 2007 Environment Minister commendation for its conservation work.
Hoheikyo was Hokkaido’s first arch dam. Its curve lets the surrounding rock bear much of the water pressure, a design that depends on strong canyon walls; the dam stands 102.5 meters tall.
The power station is not beside the dam: water travels about 6.7 kilometers through a pressure tunnel to Hoheikyo Power Station, which can generate up to 51,900 kilowatts.
At a 2014 public tour, visitors crossed the dam’s maintenance walkway to watch the tourist release beside its outlet. Dam fans voted the event the Japan Dam Award’s Event Prize by an overwhelming margin.
The local tourism association asked for this reservoir to be called Jozan Lake, linking it to nearby Jozankei Onsen. When Jozankei Dam was built later, its reservoir became Sapporo Lake instead.
