2893-Yamashiro Dam

Location: Yamashiro, Ishikawa, Uruma City, Okinawa, Japan
Date of interview: 2010/05/18

View of the downstream side of the embankment from the Okinawa Expressway (Part 1)

The other day, I accompanied my family on a tour of Okinawa. Since we were going all the way to Okinawa, I strongly wanted to see the dams in between the tours, but there was no time at all to visit the various locations on the tour, so it was quite a bullet tour situation.

Then! I thought I could take pictures of this dam from inside the bus. With camera in hand, I checked the location on Google Maps on my iPhone, and when I got close to the dam, I was the only one fidgeting. I figured it was about time, set the camera to continuous mode, looked through the viewfinder, and thought, "This is it! Now! Snap, snap, snap!" I managed to take a picture.

When I saw the characters for "Yamashiro Dam," I wondered if it was "Yamagusuku. I thought it might be "Yamagusuku," but it was a surprisingly common reading. Sometimes I get confused when I think that Okinawan kanji must be difficult to read, but it is not.

View of the downstream side of the embankment from the Okinawa Expressway (Part 2)

Since it was the Okinawa Expressway, we were quite busy because of the high speed driving. Only one person was "flustered" from "fidgeting".

This dam, by the way, was originally built by the U.S. Army. The history of the dam is typical of Okinawa. It was called Tengan Dam until March 1998.

View of the downstream side of the embankment from the Okinawa Expressway (Part 3)

Moreover, as is typical of Okinawan buses, the window glass is covered with a polarizing film, so the colors are somewhat strange. So, this is all I have of this dam. It is not enough....

dam characteristics

Other facilities/observations

Accommodations that may be close to Yamashiro Dam