Sakuma Dam
The Sakuma Dam (Japanese佐久間 ダム, damu Sakuma ) is a dam on the Tenryu, located on the border between the village Toyone district Kitashitara Aichi Prefecture and the District of Tenryu Hamamatsu city in Shizuoka Prefecture on the island of Honshu in Japan. The building is one of the highest dams in Japan.
The Sakuma Dam is a hollow gravity dam made of concrete with several central spillways. It supplies two hydroelectric power stations: the Sakuma - hydro power plant and the Shin- Toyone hydropower plant, with an installed capacity of 350 MW respectively in 1200 MW.
History
The potential of the River Tenryu for hydropower extraction has been recognized by the Meiji government in the early 20th century. The Tenryu has a high and rapid drainage. Its mountainous river basins and tributaries have steep valleys and extensive rainfall, and were sparsely populated. Nevertheless, it was invested at Ōi in hydropower mainly and only in the Taishō period began the development of the Tenryu. The private entrepreneurs Fukuzawa Momosuke founded the Tenryūgawa Denryoku ( Tenryugawa Electric Power ) used to Yasaku Suiryoku Denki ( Yasaku Hydro Electric) was later before it was nationalized in the prewar period 1938 to Nippon KK Hassōden (Japan Electric Generation and Transmission Company). The first dam on the Tenryu, the Yasuoka Dam in 1935 was completed. Then came 1938, the Iwakura Dam. The Hiraoka Dam in 1938 was started but not completed because of World War II until 1951.
The construction of the Sakuma Dam, now under the new Dengen Kaihatsu KK (English Electric Power Development Company ) was begun in 1952 and completed in 1956. The construction company was the Hazama Society. Before the impounding of the Iida railway line had to be relocated. In addition, 240 houses and 296 families had to be relocated. At the official opening ceremony on 28 October 1957, the Emperor Hirohito and his wife Kojun were present and to mark the occasion, a commemorative stamp was issued.
Environment
The Sakuma Dam is a popular attraction for canoeing and camping, because it is very close to the old town of Hamamatsu and is easily accessible. The area is part of the Tenryu- Okumikawa - Quasi-National Park.