Tochigahara Landslide Collection Wells
The Tochigahara Landslide Collection Wells (栃ヶ原地すべり集水井) in Tochigahara, Takayanagi-cho, Kashiwazaki City, Niigata Prefecture, are three reinforced-concrete drainage wells of 1955 and 1965, numbered 1 to 3, that were registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (structures) on December 5, 2019 (Agency for Cultural Affairs). They carry the consecutive registration numbers 15-0506 to 15-0508 and are owned by Niigata Prefecture.
A collection well, also called a water catchment well, gathers the groundwater that sets a landslide moving and drains it away through bores drilled from inside the shaft (Niigata Prefecture). The No. 1 well was the first of its kind built in Japan, and in 2020 the Japan Society of Civil Engineers also selected it as Civil Engineering Heritage.
A Slow Landslide and a New Kind of Well
According to Niigata Prefecture, a large landslide is said to have begun in Tochigahara when meltwater poured into cracks opened by an earthquake in 1860. The ground kept moving, and a prefectural survey in 1951 measured about 1 metre of movement in a single year. The slide crept slowly and unevenly, and many households had to move.
Bamboo culverts and drains lined with stakes were the only defences until a prefectural engineer, 湊元光春, devised the collection well; the No. 1 well was finished in 1955. Tochigahara was declared a landslide prevention area in 1959, and the No. 2 and No. 3 wells were added in 1965. Work has gone on since, and 12 collection wells now hold the slope in check (Niigata Prefecture).
Where the Three Wells Stand and What They Do
All three are reinforced-concrete shafts 4.0 metres across; the No. 1 well is 18 metres deep and the other two 15 metres (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The No. 2 well lies 300 metres north-north-west of the No. 1 well, and the No. 3 well 100 metres to its south-west.
Each does its job a little differently. The No. 1 shaft, sunk into the bedrock, also acts as a body resisting the slide; the No. 2 well pumps its water onto the surrounding rice paddies; and the No. 3 well sends its water through a buried pipe to the No. 1 well (Agency for Cultural Affairs; Niigata Prefecture). The structure and construction of each well are covered on its own page.
Visiting
A Niigata Prefecture leaflet maps the Tochigahara Landslide Collection Wells within the Tochigahara settlement near Prefectural Road 219, and gives the drive from JR Kashiwazaki Station as about 40 minutes (28 kilometres). No official information on reaching the site by public transport was found.
All three wells are working landslide prevention facilities owned by the prefecture, and no official information on interior visits or photography was found. The prefecture's Kashiwazaki regional office has run guided visits with local schools and, in November 2021, a tent sauna event using groundwater from the wells; its leaflets on the history of the Tochigahara landslide are available online in Japanese.
References
- Tochigahara Landslide No. 1 Collection Well (Database of National Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00013065
- Tochigahara Landslide No. 2 Collection Well (Database of National Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00013066
- Tochigahara Landslide No. 3 Collection Well (Database of National Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00013067
- Tochigahara Landslide Collection Wells, Registered Tangible Cultural Property and Civil Engineering Heritage (Niigata Prefecture, Japanese)
- https://www.pref.niigata.lg.jp/sec/kashiwazaki_seibi/tochigaharayukei.html
- Tochigahara Landslide Collection Wells, leaflet (Niigata Prefecture, March 2020, Japanese)
- https://www.pref.niigata.lg.jp/uploaded/attachment/228546.pdf
- Civil Engineering Heritage selected in 2020 (Japan Society of Civil Engineers, Japanese)
- https://next.committees.jsce.or.jp/doboku_isan/system/files/2020_tablept.pdf
Last verified: 2026.11.05
Basic Information
| Name | Tochigahara Landslide Collection Wells |
|---|---|
| Location | Tochigahara, Takayanagi-cho, Kashiwazaki City, Niigata Prefecture |
| Owner | Niigata Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (3) |
| Coordinates | 37.19470, 138.64538 |
