Higashi Karasu River Third Dam

Two Projects, State and Prefecture, in One Dam

The Higashi Karasu River Third Dam (東鴉川第三堰堤, Higashi Karasugawa Daisan Entei) is a gravity concrete sabo dam built in 1951 and enlarged in 1954 on the Higashi Karasu River, 475 meters above the First Dam in Tsuchiyu Onsen-cho, Fukushima City, Fukushima Prefecture, and it was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on July 8, 2008.

The national record gives a crest length of 66 meters and a height of 15 meters. It is registered as a single structure but is really two dams: a dam about 4.4 meters high built by Fukushima Prefecture in 1951, and the much larger national dam, 66 meters long and 15 meters high, which the Agency for Cultural Affairs records as the 1954 enlargement.

It is registration number 07-0106 and the middle one of the three registered dams on the Higashi Karasu River.

Why the Higashi Karasu River Third Dam Was Registered

The Higashi Karasu River Third Dam was registered under the criterion for structures that contribute to the historic landscape of the country. Its faces are battered at 0.45 to 1 upstream and 0.2 to 1 downstream, and it is faced in level-coursed Nunozumi masonry.

A small prefectural dam overbuilt by a large national one records how prefectural and national works continued side by side after the Arakawa basin came under direct national control in 1936. The jump from about 4.4 meters to 15 meters in height marks a step up in the scale of defense against debris flows.

What to Look For

Study the coursed masonry: horizontal joints run level across the 15-meter face in neat bands. The Higashi Karasu River Fourth Dam, 3.2 kilometers upstream, is faced in diagonal tanizumi, so the two dams on the same stream make a clear contrast.

Standing in front of the dam, see if you can make out traces of the two projects. The Agency records two dams, but no on-site sign has been found that shows which part is the prefectural work.

Visiting the Higashi Karasu River Third Dam

The Higashi Karasu River Third Dam is a working erosion-control structure. There is no fee; you view it from nearby, and climbing on the dam or going down to the riverbed is not allowed. After rain the river can rise suddenly, so keep away from the banks. Directions are on the Arakawa River Sabo Dams page.