'Mountain dream' or the 'submergence of fine scenery'? Japanese contestations over the Kurobe Number Four Dam, 1920-1970

摘要

This article explores the often-contentious discussions surrounding the construction of Japan's largest concrete arch dam, the Kurobe Number Four (Kuroyon), during the middle twentieth century. It investigates this history at varying spatial scales, especially the local and national, to show how synergies among supporters and opponents at these scales could crucially affect the pace and scope of damming along the Kurobe River in the Central Japan Alps. Prior to World War Ⅱ, local and national-level opponents employed a modern language of scenic preservation and succeeded in forcing dam builders to scale down and relocate their projects away from key scenic spots in the Kurobe River Gorge. After the war, however, dam opponents were unsuccessful in halting the Kansai Electric Power Company (KEPCO) as it set out to construct the 186-meter Number Four Dam in the heart of Chubu Sangaku National Park. National-level officials, politicians, big businesses, regional boosters, and local tourism promoters all pressed for rapid economic growth and electrification through the "comprehensive development" of Japan's river valleys after 1945. Within such a policy environment geared toward national reconstruction and "modernization," KEPCO divided and appeased local and national-level opponents, in large part by pledging to contribute to the development of alpine tourism. An epilogue details the construction of the Number Four Dam, how the Japanese mass media covered the event, and the ultimate impacts of the project as it tamed the once-rapid flows of the Kurobe River.