A Barrier Between Two Provinces
To understand the Magaridani Tunnel, it helps to look at the map rather than the tunnel alone. The Kinome Pass has long divided the old provinces of Echizen and Wakasa, and it was the hardest obstacle facing a railway between Tsuruga and Fukui. Rather than a single great bore, the engineers of the 1890s answered the pass with a chain of tunnels strung along its foothills, threading the line through ridge after ridge. Magaridani is one link in that chain, about 260 metres long, curving gently as its name, meaning "winding valley," suggests.
It stands in the Ohida district of Tsuruga, roughly 50 metres north of the Second Kannonji Tunnel.
Shared Design, Repeated Along the Line
Magaridani was built with the same kit of parts as its neighbours, including the brick arches over the refuge recesses set into the walls, matching the Habara and Sorojidani tunnels. This repetition is itself part of the story. Faced with a long, difficult section, the builders worked out a reliable standard and applied it bore after bore, adjusting length and curve to each ridge. Seeing several of these tunnels in sequence, the visitor reads not just one structure but a working method.
Value and Visiting
The steep, continuous climb here demanded banker locomotives to push trains over the summit, based at Tsuruga and Imajo at either end. That operating difficulty is why the whole route was eventually abandoned in 1962 when the long Hokuriku Tunnel opened, and why the chain of bores survives today. Magaridani was registered as a Tangible Cultural Property in 2016 with the rest of the line.
It lies on the single-lane road along the old alignment. Follow the tunnel signals, use headlights, and confirm the route is open before travelling, since sections close periodically for repair.
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Questions and Answers
- What does the name Magaridani mean?
- It means a winding valley. The tunnel curves gently through the ridge, in keeping with the terrain of the Kinome Pass foothills.
- Why are there so many tunnels close together here?
- The Kinome Pass was a steep barrier between the old provinces of Echizen and Wakasa. Instead of one long bore, engineers drove a chain of shorter tunnels through the foothills, and Magaridani is one of them.
- How is it built?
- Like its neighbours, it is stone and brick, about 260 metres long, with brick arches over the wall refuge recesses. It shares its design with the Habara and Sorojidani tunnels.
- Where exactly is it?
- In the Ohida district of Tsuruga, about 50 metres north of the Second Kannonji Tunnel, on the former Hokuriku Line alignment now used as a road.
Basic Information
| Name | Former Hokuriku Line Magaridani Tunnel |
|---|---|
| Location | Ohida, Tsuruga City, Fukui Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure), registered 25 February 2016 |
| Registration No. | 18-0150 |
| Built | around 1895 (Meiji era) |
| Structure | Stone and brick; length 260 m, width 3.9 m |
| Owner | Fukui Prefecture |
| Access | On the former Hokuriku Line alignment (single-lane public road); obey tunnel signals; confirm road status before visiting |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database — Magaridani Tunnel
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00010958
- Tsuruga City Tourism Association — Former Hokuriku Line Tunnels
- https://tsuruga-kanko.jp/spot/history_culture/hokuriku-line-tunnel/
- Fukui Prefecture Official Travel Guide (Fuku-e.com)
- https://www.fuku-e.com/spot/detail_1640.html
Last verified: 2026.07.09