Dry Stone at 2,100 Metres
Jinnosuke Valley No. 2 Check Dam is a check dam of 1915 standing at 2,100 metres in the Jinnosuke Valley at Hakumine, Hakusan City, Ishikawa Prefecture, listed on 23 February 2012 as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property. It is built of stone, 13.3 metres across and 5.5 metres high, and it is dry-laid, without mortar of any kind.
Of the thirteen structures listed in this valley on that day, this is the only one from the Taisho era. The other twelve were built between 1932 and 1938, a gap of more than seventeen years. Jinnosuke Valley No. 2 Check Dam belongs to the period before sabo work here passed to the national government, when Ishikawa Prefecture was doing the building itself.
Where Hakusan Sabo Started
Sabo work on this mountain began in 1910, when the governor of Ishikawa saw the stripped slopes of the Yanagidani ravine, and construction started in the Jinnosuke and Yanagidani valleys in 1912. This check dam followed three years later. Torrential rain in 1914 and again in 1919 destroyed most of what had been built by then, so very little of that first phase survives anywhere.
The Kanazawa River and National Highway Office records it as one of the first check dams built for Hakusan sabo, and, standing above 2,000 metres, as the highest sabo structure in the country at the time. Registration is a notification-based form of protection, separate from the permit-based designation system, and Jinnosuke Valley No. 2 Check Dam qualified as a structure contributing to the historic landscape of the country.
Stone Without Mortar
The dam is masonry throughout, stone quarried and dressed on site and fitted together with real precision. Where the later dams downstream use mortar in their joints, this one relies on the stones alone. At 2,100 metres the logic is easy to follow: splitting the rock underfoot cost less than carrying cement up the mountain.
The downstream face is recessed at the centre, set back from the wings to match the line the water takes, gathering the flow and dropping it in the middle. With 13.3 metres of span against 5.5 metres of height, the proportion is upright rather than spread out, and the difference from the long low walls built here a generation later is obvious at a glance.
Visiting
Jinnosuke Valley No. 2 Check Dam is a working structure and cannot be walked on, and nothing has been built beside it for visitors. It is the highest of the thirteen, at around 2,100 metres, on the ground reached by climbing the Sabo Shindo trail from Bettodeai to the Jinnosuke emergency hut and continuing onto the Nanryu path towards the Nanryugababa basin. Reaching that height takes considerably more time and effort than viewing the dams of the middle reaches.
Nothing prohibits photography. This is alpine terrain where weather turns quickly, and while snow lies the ground is simply out of reach. Directions, the seasonal car restrictions, the compulsory climbing plan and the museum in Hakumine are set out on the Jinnosuke Valley Sabo Works page.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Ishikawa
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Jinnosuke Valley No. 2 Check Dam
- [ Kenrokuen Garden & Kanazawa Craft Experiences ]
Q&A
- When was Jinnosuke Valley No. 2 Check Dam built?
- In 1915. It is the only Taisho-era structure among the thirteen listed in this valley, more than seventeen years older than the rest.
- What does dry-laid construction mean at Jinnosuke Valley No. 2 Check Dam?
- The stones are fitted together without mortar or cement. They were quarried and dressed on site at 2,100 metres.
- How big is Jinnosuke Valley No. 2 Check Dam?
- It is 13.3 metres long and 5.5 metres high, an upright proportion quite unlike the long low dams built here a generation later.
- Can I visit Jinnosuke Valley No. 2 Check Dam?
- There are no opening hours or fees and it cannot be walked on. It sits around 2,100 metres, on ground reached via the Sabo Shindo trail and the Nanryu path beyond the Jinnosuke emergency hut.
- How does a check dam differ from the sabo dams in the same valley?
- A check dam is built to stop the streambed cutting downward. This one is dry-laid stone, while the sabo dams downstream were built two decades later and use mortared masonry.
Basic Information
| Name | Jinnosuke Valley No. 2 Check Dam |
|---|---|
| Location | Hakumine, Hakusan City, Ishikawa Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2012/02/23 (Heisei 24) |
| Quantity | 1 structure |
| Dimensions | 13.3 metres long, 5.5 metres high |
| Owner | Ishikawa Prefecture |
| Public Access | Working structure in the open; distant views from the trail only |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00009145
- Kanazawa River and National Highway Office: Fifteen Facilities Listed as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties
- https://www.hrr.mlit.go.jp/kanazawa/hakusansabo/03history/touroku.html
- Kanazawa River and National Highway Office: History of the Hakusan Sabo Project
- https://www.hrr.mlit.go.jp/kanazawa/hakusansabo/03history/history01.html
- Kanazawa River and National Highway Office: Civil Engineering Heritage Certification
- https://www.hrr.mlit.go.jp/kanazawa/hakusansabo/03history/isan01.html
- Ishikawa Prefecture: Traffic Restrictions during the Hakusan Climbing Season
- https://www.pref.ishikawa.lg.jp/hakusan/tozaninf/peak2.html
- Ishikawa Prefecture: Mandatory Submission of Climbing Plans for Hakusan
- https://www.pref.ishikawa.lg.jp/bousai/bousai_g/hakusan_kazan/jorei.html
Last verified: 2026.09.17
