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Joshin’etsukogen NP, Niigata
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A shark-tooth display in the tunnel points to an unlikely past: Nakasato’s 15–12-million-year-old marine rocks yielded a megalodon tooth, from a shark estimated at 13–16 m long.
MAD Architects recast the 750 m tunnel as a submarine-like world: its viewing stations act as periscopes, while wood, earth, metal, fire and water shape the artwork.
The cliff’s “pencil bundles” formed as magma cooled, then tectonic movements about 2.6 million years ago twisted and broke them as they rose. The Kiyotsu River later cut through the exposed rock.
After rockfall closed the cliffside trail in 1988, a safe path was judged impractical: the jointed cliffs are hard but brittle. A 750 m pedestrian tunnel opened in 1996 instead.
Even the restroom is part of the art: its bubble-like, reflective skin lets users see the gorge from inside, while a special film keeps people outside from seeing in.
Avalanche-packed snow can cover parts of the river without stopping the flow, then melt into a natural arch that may linger into June. Spring slides also alter the trees, changing the gorge’s autumn colors.
A hot spring found while workers were boring the gorge tunnel now supplies the entrance facility’s footbath. Look up from the water: a circular mirrored opening reflects the landscape above.
The hot spring was known in the Genroku era, around 300 years ago, but rugged terrain delayed development. Local residents finally established a bathing resort here in 1862.
On April 23, 1941, Kiyotsu Gorge was designated both a National Place of Scenic Beauty and a Natural Monument—years before its inclusion in Jōshin’etsukōgen National Park in 1949.
