Date of interview: Wednesday, 1/28/2015

After leaving the Kirimegawa Dam, we visited the Shimanose Dam. This was the fourth dam of the day. The Shimanose Dam is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and is used for agricultural water as Nanki Water. The region's specialties are of course Kishu plums, Nanko plums, and mandarin oranges, so the water from the Shimanose Dam supports those brands.

Start with the left bank.

There is a management office on the left bank. Stone monuments and other structures are collectively located next to it.

Management office and monument on the left bank

The monument was written by the then Director General of the Kinki Agricultural Administration Bureau, who was proud of the fact that ume (Japanese apricot) is a specialty of the region.

Stone monument "Enriching the Township of Plum Blossoms"

There is another stone monument with the words "Kiku wa risui yukyu" written on it. The word "Kiku wa" is read as "Koinegawa wa," meaning "I strongly hope that water will still be beneficial even after a long time has passed.

Stone monument, "I wish for the longevity of water".

The cornerstone is located here.

And, as if in response to the Kirimegawa Dam, the Shimanose Dam was also overflowing on that day.

The top end is open to automobile traffic, as the control center must be approached from the right bank.

This is the best we can do as we cannot move any further downstream from the left bank. Even so, we can see that the river is somehow overflowing.

Looking downstream from the top

The flow rate is high, and the flow pattern is beautiful.

From the right bank

You can see stairs on the slope on the left bank, but unfortunately they are not open. It is a pity, because it looks like a good observation point.

That said, it is nice to see the levee from various angles.

The sidewalls of the reduction works seem to be built high for the size of the embankment. This may be because the left bank is particularly susceptible to the influence of the landslide.

It is a wonderful overflow from any angle. Incidentally, Shimanose Dam is also known as a cherry blossom viewing spot, and carp streamers are displayed above the top edge, so it is definitely worth a visit in the spring.

Moving further downstream to see the downstream face of the dike

The right bank can be accessed by footing stairs, and at the end of the stairs, on the right hand side, there was a row of stone monuments. The rightmost one is the remains of some kind of stone monument. The middle one is a stone monument erected by the mayor of the former Minabegawa village in the hope that the dam would help develop the village's industry. The leftmost stone monument commemorates the completion of the dam by Goyo Construction Company and Tokyu Construction Company, which were in charge of the construction.

As I have said many times, it is really nice to see the levee from various angles. Moreover, the overflow is wonderful.

Downstream view of the levee from the right bank passage

The approach from the footing stairs looks like this. On this day, scaffolding was being erected to repair the upper part of the audit corridor entrance.

Footing stairs and audit corridor entrance

To the left bank again.

After enjoying the right bank for a while, I went back to the left bank to get my car. There is a restroom on the left bank, but suddenly the atmosphere here has changed, with a unique design.

Further to the left is a water intake facility. It is a slant-flume type with four multi-level gates, and the maximum intake capacity is 1.3 m3/s.

View water intake facilities and reservoirs.

Detailed specifications of the water intake facilities are as follows

name	Water intake gate	Bottom security gate
form (something takes)	Steel roller gate	Steel roller gate
volume	4 gates (No.1 to No.4)	(one) gate
Effective diameter	800mm dia.	800mm dia.
Opening and closing speed	0.3m/min	0.1m/min
Date of manufacture	February 1990	February 1990
production	Sato Ironworks Co.	Sato Ironworks Co.

Move downstream of the levee

I went to the parking lot on the left bank of the levee to pick up my car, and this time I came to the downstream of the levee. There is a discharge facility downstream, and the water was also being discharged. Since 2012, the Shimanose Dam has installed a small-scale hydroelectric power generation system in the discharge facility, generating a maximum of 140 kW of electricity. The water discharged here is the water after passing through the small-scale hydroelectric power generation system.

Discharge facility located downstream of the dike

The small hydroelectric facility can be seen at the far left bank on the downstream side of the dike. My memory is a little fuzzy, but I think the reason this photo looks like a hidden shot is because it was off-limits.

Small-scale hydroelectric power generation facilities

It was great to see the unexpectedly wonderful discharge of water. There are many places to visit, and I would like to visit Shimanose Dam again during the cherry blossom season.

Downstream view of the levee from the bridge downstream

Movie of Shimanose Dam discharge

Shimanose Dam Specifications

Location	Aza Kuromatsu, Oaza Higashikannogawa, Minabe-cho, Hidaka-gun, Wakayama
River Name	Minabe River, Minabe River System
Objective	A (irrigation water)
Model	G(gravity-fed concrete dam)
Bank height	44.5m
Bank length	131.5m
Dam volume	84,500 m3 (local signboard) (Dam Handbook: 87,000 m3)
Watershed Area	29.4 km2
Reservoir area	24.4 ha
Total storage capacity	3,070,000 m3
Effective water storage capacity	2,480,000 m3
Dam operator	Kinki Agricultural Administration Bureau
Main body constructor	Goyo Construction, Tokyu Corporation
Year of launch	1970
Year Completed	1991
Name of Dam Lake	–