Handayama Distribution Reservoirs

About the Handayama Distribution Reservoirs

The Handayama Distribution Reservoirs (半田山配水地) are a waterworks site of 1905 on Mount Handa in Hokaiin, Kita Ward, Okayama City, Okayama Prefecture, whose three circular reservoirs, two meter houses and former office, six items in all, were registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Property structures on February 9, 2005. They are owned by Okayama City.

According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the site lies northwest of the Mino water purification plant, about 50 metres above sea level on Mount Handa. Engineers including Yoshimura Chosaku and Sano Tojiro worked on it, and it was built with national and prefectural subsidies as part of Okayama City's original waterworks.

Six Structures from Three Building Phases

The No. 1 and No. 2 reservoirs, the original meter house and the office date from the founding works of 1905. The No. 3 reservoir was added in 1919 in the first extension, and the extension meter house in 1939 in the third (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

All three reservoirs are circular and built to the same design. Okayama Prefecture explains that the meter houses held the meters that measured the water sent from the reservoirs into the city. The Agency counts the No. 1 reservoir among the few circular distribution reservoirs in Japan.

A Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism survey, citing the Okayama City Waterworks Bureau, notes that the reservoirs are still in service.

Seeing Them in the Handayama Botanical Garden

The slopes around the Handayama Distribution Reservoirs became the Okayama City Handayama Botanical Garden, opened in 1964 when the waterworks landscaped the reservoir grounds (Okayama City). The six structures stand partway up the garden, and visitors see their exteriors after paying garden admission; Okayama Prefecture lists them as exterior viewing only.

The garden is open 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (last entry 4:00 p.m.), closed Tuesdays (or the following day after a public holiday) and over the New Year. Admission is 310 yen for adults and 125 yen for children (Okayama City). There are 93 paid parking spaces, 300 yen for up to 3 hours.

It is about a 15-minute walk from JR Hokaiin Station on the Tsuyama Line, or about 3 minutes from the Suigenchi stop on the Okaden or Uno bus lines (Okayama Prefecture). Enquiries go to the garden (086-252-4183).