Okutadami Municipal Parking Lot & Okutadami Bus Stop
Free parking for up to 700 cars.
This parking lot serves as a base for sightseeing in Okutadami. It also has large public restrooms. The local bus service connecting JR Urasa Station and Okutadami, with two to three buses per day, terminates here. The boat tour boarding area is about a 12-minute walk from the Okutadami Municipal Parking Lot, but you can also use the paid slope car, which connects the parking lot to the dam plaza (a 50-meter elevation difference) in about 4 minutes one way.
Okutadami Silver Line
The Okutadami Silver Line was originally constructed as a special road for transporting materials to build the Okutadami Dam. Out of its total length of 22 km, 18 km is made up of tunnels, making it a rare road in Japan. In particular, the three tunnels just before Okutadami are connected for over 10 km. The rugged rock walls still retain their original appearance, and driving through the dimly lit tunnels can be unsettling, but it is also said to be a road that "you want to drive through at least once."
Construction began in 1954 and was completed in 1957. In 1969, it was transferred to Niigata Prefecture, and in 1971, it was opened to the public as a toll road. It became free to use in 1977. Motorcycles and pedestrians are not permitted. The height limit is 3.7 meters.
Okutadami Dam
The Okutadami Dam was completed in 1960, more than half a century ago.It is a straight gravity concrete dam, standing at 157 meters tall and stretching 480 meters long. It boasts the greatest height of any dam of its type in Japan. The artificial lake formed by the dam, Lake Okutadami, has an area of approximately 11.5 km2 (roughly the same size as Lake Chuzenji) and a water storage capacity of about 600 million cubic meters, which is approximately three times that of Lake Okutama or the Kurobe Dam. It generates a maximum output of 560,000 kW (equivalent to the electricity used by about 250,000 households), making it the largest dam in Japan for conventional hydroelectric power (excluding pumped-storage hydropower).
Slope Car
The slope car is a cute and convenient way to get around.
The one-way fare is 200円 for adults and 100円 for children.
To get from the Okutadami municipal parking lot to the Okutadami boat tour boarding area, please use the slope car. It travels between the parking lot and the dam plaza (a height difference of 50 meters) in about 4 minutes one way, allowing you to enjoy the nature and the dam as you go up and down. The capacity is 40 people, and it is wheelchair accessible.
Its popular forest green body color, which blends in with Okutadami's nature, is a favorite.
Okutadami Power Museum
The Okutadami Power Museum is a viewpoint where you can get a panoramic view of the dam!
At the Okutadami Power Museum, we have exhibits about the Okutadami Dam and power plant, as well as the scenery and culture of Oze and Okutadami, so that all visitors can enjoy learning about energy and the mechanics of hydroelectric power. This is also the place where dam cards are distributed. Please take your time to enjoy the facilities along with the wonderful natural scenery from the hill overlooking the lake and the dam.
Okutadami Boat Terminal
The Okutadami Boat Terminal is the base for the boat tour routes.
It serves as the base for the Okutadami Lake boat tours' three routes: the "Okutadami Cruise" that goes around the entire lake, the one-way "Ginzandaira Cruise," and the "Oze-guchi Cruise" which continues on to Oze for hiking. At full water capacity, the elevation is 750 meters. Since Lake Okutadami is a dam lake for hydroelectric power generation, the water level can fluctuate by as much as 12 meters during the six months of the boat tour's operating season.