Gami Power Plant

A Taisho Hydropower Station on the Sato River

The Gami Power Plant (賀美発電所) is a hydroelectric station on the middle reaches of the Sato River, part of the Kuji River system, in Hitachiota City, Ibaraki Prefecture; it began operating in 1919, and its main building, outfall and spillway, and water intake were registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (structures) on November 8, 2004. It is owned by the Tokyo Electric Generation Company.

According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the plant was planned by Ibaraki Electric, and its intake lies about 4 km upstream of the main building, in Kosuge-cho. Water taken in at the intake is carried by a headrace to the main building, and after driving the turbine it returns to the Sato River through the outfall. The main building and outfall stand in Kamifukaogi-cho.

The Facilities and Their Value

The Tokyo Electric Generation Company describes the Gami Power Plant as a station whose wooden main building, penstock behind and tailrace in front sit in easy harmony with the surrounding landscape. The company maintains the main buildings, outfalls and intakes of three Sato River stations, Gami, Orikawa and Tokuda, as registered cultural properties.

In 2017 the Japan Society of Civil Engineers selected the Sato River hydroelectric plants, including Gami, as civil engineering heritage. The society cites them as the plants of the first river system developed for power in Ibaraki, which contributed to the region's modernisation and preserve the construction technology of their day.

The main building is a single-storey timber powerhouse with a raised clerestory roof; the outfall and spillway are finely stone-lined channels with a segmental-arch service bridge; and the intake comprises a stone-faced gravity weir, sluice gates and a settling basin (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Visiting the Gami Power Plant

The Gami Power Plant is still in operation. No official information on visits, viewing points or parking could be confirmed. Do not enter the facilities, and follow any posted guidance when viewing from outside. The main building is at 320 Kamifukaogi-cho and the intake in Kosuge-cho, Hitachiota City (Agency for Cultural Affairs).