A Dam That Spreads Out
Jinnosuke Valley No. 22 Sabo Dam is an erosion-control dam of 1937 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 36.0 metres across and 4.5 metres high, and it rests on the gravel trapped by the No. 21 dam below.
That 36.0-metre span is the second longest of the eleven stepped dams, after the one at the very bottom of the sequence. You might expect a valley to narrow as you climb it, and the dams with it, but the ground does not oblige. Where Jinnosuke Valley No. 22 Sabo Dam stands, the ravine opens out again, and the wall had to be stretched to match.
Why It Was Listed
The year 1937 falls three years after the flood of 1934, which killed 97 people along the Tedori River. The Jinnosuke and Yanagidani valleys held during that flood, and the case for sabo work was settled. Jinnosuke Valley No. 22 Sabo Dam belongs to the building that followed, evidence that the programme begun when the scheme went national in 1927 was still being pushed up the valley.
Registration is a notification-based form of protection, separate from the permit-based designation system. This 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.
Low and Long
The body is mortared rubble, local stone bedded with mortar in the joints. The spillway keeps its shape as an inverted trapezoid opening upward, but the coping stones along its lip have gone, and the shoulders have been rebuilt in concrete. The masonry at the centre is what survives as built.
Against 36.0 metres of span the dam is only 4.5 metres high, a flatter proportion than anything around it, so from directly in front it reads as a long low wall. The No. 21 dam immediately below, built the same year, runs to 28.5 metres. The difference is simply the width of the ravine at each point.
Visiting
Jinnosuke Valley No. 22 Sabo Dam is a working structure and cannot be walked on, and nothing has been built beside it for visitors. Seeing it means taking the Sabo Shindo trail from Bettodeai and looking down where the slope opens towards the valley. Its width makes it one of the easier dams to pick out high in the sequence.
Nothing prohibits photography. Rebuilding and repair continue 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. 22 Sabo Dam
- [ Kenrokuen Garden & Kanazawa Craft Experiences ]
Q&A
- When was Jinnosuke Valley No. 22 Sabo Dam built?
- In 1937, the same year as the No. 21 dam immediately below it.
- How big is Jinnosuke Valley No. 22 Sabo Dam?
- It is 36.0 metres long and 4.5 metres high, the second longest span among the eleven stepped dams.
- Why is Jinnosuke Valley No. 22 Sabo Dam so wide?
- The ravine opens out at this point. The dimensions of each dam follow the shape of the valley and the state of its bed.
- Can I visit Jinnosuke Valley No. 22 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 should I look for at Jinnosuke Valley No. 22 Sabo Dam?
- Its flat proportion. With the coping lost and the shoulders rebuilt in concrete, the masonry at the centre is the original fabric.
Basic Information
| Name | Jinnosuke Valley No. 22 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 | 36.0 metres long, 4.5 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/101/00009156
- 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
