Working Without Its Coping
Jinnosuke Valley No. 20 Sabo Dam is an erosion-control dam of 1933 in the middle reaches of the Jinnosuke Valley at Hakumine, Hakusan City, Ishikawa Prefecture, listed on 23 February 2012 as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property. It measures 26.0 metres across and 5.0 metres high, and it stands on the gravel trapped by the No. 19 dam below.
This one has lost both its original shoulders and the coping stones of its spillway. The projecting eave that survives on the dams upstream is simply gone here. The wall has stayed where it was put, though, and it still holds back gravel. Jinnosuke Valley No. 20 Sabo Dam shows the other condition these structures come in: incomplete, and in service.
Why It Was Listed
Missing fabric did not rule it out, because the dam has not moved and has not stopped working. The slope around it is one of the largest active landslides in Japan; the dams here crack as the ground shifts beneath them and have been patched repeatedly. In this valley, simply remaining in position counts for something.
Sabo work on Hakusan became a directly managed national project in 1927, and this dam followed six years later, the year before the 1934 flood that killed 97 people along the Tedori River. Registration is a notification-based form of protection, separate from designation, and Jinnosuke Valley No. 20 Sabo Dam qualified as a structure contributing to the historic landscape of the country. In 2004 the Japan Society of Civil Engineers certified the stepped dams of this valley as a Civil Engineering Heritage site.
What the Losses Reveal
The body is mortared rubble, local stone bedded with mortar in the joints. The spillway keeps its basic form, an inverted trapezoid opening upward, but the coping that once ran along its lip has gone, leaving the cut ends of the masonry exposed. See the eave on a neighbouring dam first, then look here, and the purpose of that missing course becomes obvious.
The dam runs 26.0 metres long and 5.0 metres high, and its shoulders are not the original ones either. What remains is a record of the order in which running water takes a masonry wall apart.
Visiting
Jinnosuke Valley No. 20 Sabo Dam is a working structure and cannot be walked on. No platform or panel stands beside it. Seeing it means taking the Sabo Shindo trail from Bettodeai and looking down where the slope opens towards the valley. Without its coping, the top edge reads as a blunter line than on the dams around it.
Nothing prohibits photography. Rebuilding and repair go on here, so working sites should be avoided. Directions, the seasonal car restrictions, the compulsory climbing plan and the museum in Hakumine are covered on the Jinnosuke Valley Sabo Works page.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Ishikawa
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Jinnosuke Valley No. 20 Sabo Dam
- [ Kenrokuen Garden & Kanazawa Craft Experiences ]
Q&A
- When was Jinnosuke Valley No. 20 Sabo Dam built?
- In 1933, on the gravel trapped by the No. 19 dam immediately downstream.
- What happened to the coping of Jinnosuke Valley No. 20 Sabo Dam?
- It has been lost, along with the original shoulders. The wall nonetheless remains in place and still functions as an erosion-control dam.
- How big is Jinnosuke Valley No. 20 Sabo Dam?
- It is 26.0 metres long and 5.0 metres high.
- Can I visit Jinnosuke Valley No. 20 Sabo Dam?
- There are no opening hours or fees and the dam cannot be walked on. The public approach is the Sabo Shindo trail from Bettodeai.
- What is the heritage status of Jinnosuke Valley No. 20 Sabo Dam?
- A Registered Tangible Cultural Property, listed on 23 February 2012 under the registration system rather than designation.
Basic Information
| Name | Jinnosuke Valley No. 20 Sabo 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 | 26.0 metres long, 5.0 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/101/00009154
- 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
