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The underground cathedral protecting Tokyo from floods (2018)
- actionfromafar 1y ago[flagged]
- gnabgib 1y ago(2018) Discussion at the time (127 points, 30 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18570076 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18570076 There was also a good NYT article in 2017 (293 points, 210 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15436943 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15436943
- NaOH 1y agoMore: Tokyo Metropolitan Area Outer Underground Discharge Channel - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43816183 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43816183 - April 2025 (6 comments) Tokyo expands underground 'temple' complex to counter climate change rains - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41727317 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41727317 - Oct 2024 (2 comments) Tokyo's Underground Discharge Channel - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19785044 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19785044 - May 2019 (42 comments) That second listing links to a piece with lots of good photographs.
- srvmshr 1y agoI have been to this place. It is limited viewing, requires a reservation & the slots run out practically in seconds. Tough for us residents to get it as well. My wife could snag it in her third try, as a late birthday trip last year. It is gargantuan & having massive holding capacity. To give semblance with something familiar, it was like standing in NY Grand Central station, except it was felt bigger, empty, damp & illuminated by floodlights from all sides. It is probably one and half football fields in length & scales high as much as a five storied building. Uploaded three pics to show the scale of this megalith. (The base of the pillars here are taller than average height of person to give a rough scale. The stairs come down from the ground level) https://i.imgur.com/Jtcy0Ct.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/Jtcy0Ct.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/8Q08eKS.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/8Q08eKS.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/y75sfGP.jpeg https://i.imgur.com/y75sfGP.jpeg In addition to this underground chamber, there are two massive pumps on either sides, which divert the water from whichever river is surging to the other (Arakawa & Edogawa possibly). The chamber is the buffer zone between the rivers, not a storage tank ultimately. I was told by the civil engineer of this plant they could pump out as much as a jumbo jet's volume per minute in its storm surge channel/drain to manage flooding. You can walk up to the turbine room at the end of this room, and see its massive blades at an arm length. All with earthquake protection in place as well. Honestly mind-blowing piece of engineering.
- oceanhaiyang 1y agoAnd you gotta speak decent Japanese or have someone with you who does in case of emergency! Those pictures look unreal!
- ryao 1y agoThe most important word to know is 逃げろ. If you hear it, you will likely see others start running, and you should run in the same direction.
- dtgriscom 1y ago> 逃げろ "RUN!", correct?
- skhr0680 1y agoIf you hear that, it’s too late for you, I’m afraid. It’s time to go when your guide says: “It’s inexcusable and I’m very sorry for the inconvenience, but the control room has informed me that we should make our way towards the emergency exit five minutes to the south west of the left of the 7-11. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.”
- jonnybgood 1y agoI've also visited. It was a hot day when I went. As we descended, the coolness felt amazing, but there was this misty fog inside. Mixed with the dark dampness, I felt like I walked in to a Andrei Tarkovsky scene.
- whtrbt 1y agoI've also been (December 2024), I didn't realise it was so difficult to get reservations. It is an awesome space and surprisingly well lit.
- userbinator 1y agoIt must be the lighting and colouration, as your first two photos actually look like CGI or some sort of painted art.
- FigurativeVoid 1y agoIncredible. I sometimes forget that manga writers use very real locations as references. I believe this is the backdrop for several Tokyo Ghoul scenes.
- c-hendricks 1y agoThe Host also uses a similar setting for a good portion of the movie (from what I remember)
- cobalt 1y agoit was also in mirror's edge, and several other pieces of media
- HPsquared 1y agoThose columns are holding up the ceiling, and all the earth above.
- realo 1y agoI have to mention here that 1,500 years ago the same was done in Istanbul: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_Cistern https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_Cistern
- yubblegum 1y agoIt's in a James Bond film. Goes right under the Soviet embassy. /g
- bobthepanda 1y agoCisterns aren’t really the same thing; cisterns store drinking water for long term whereas these caverns are only supposed to hold water until the treatment plant can handle it.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- GrifMD 1y agoMirror's Edge (2008) had a pretty neat level inspired by these storm drains https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IE3qooY0d_A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IE3qooY0d_A
- Lammy 1y agoSo does Splatoon 3 https://splatoonwiki.org/wiki/Undertow_Spillway https://splatoonwiki.org/wiki/Undertow_Spillway
- bastawhiz 1y agoIt's not the same, but this is similar to Chicago's Deep Tunnel Project. There's a lot of fascinating reading on the project. If you're in the area, you can even get a tour of one of the stations: https://mwrd.org/locations/tarp-mainstream-pumping-station https://mwrd.org/locations/tarp-mainstream-pumping-station
- kotoriii 1y ago[dead]
- Aeolun 1y agoThey’re making more too! We got a new underground tank underneath the park nearby that they’ve been working on for years. I guess it’s connected to this one, though I can’t find any information on that reservoir in specific. https://sushitech-startup.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/sightseeing-tour/index/pdf/pdf2-en.pdf https://sushitech-startup.metro.tokyo.lg.jp/sightseeing-tour... It’s pretty relevant as my house is about 50m from that river.
- acyou 1y ago22 meters underground, built in 1950s, Tokyo, 5-7% of GDP - yeah the gigantic underground vaults serve as flood protection, to those who have a good understanding of Japanese history, it's understandable to believe these were rather primarily built as bomb and nuclear shelters.
- hollerith 1y agoIt would easy to tell: (unless they were occupied by only a handful of people) they would be useless as fallout shelters without a lot of ventilation, and you can't rely on the wind: you'd need big fans and ducts, and the fans would need to keep running after most of the electricity-generating capacity available in Tokyo is destroyed, i.e., this ventilation system would need its own hardened electricity supply.
- bobthepanda 1y agoAlso, using this as a shelter would have a pretty obvious downside if torrential rainstorms happened.
- tharkun__ 1y agoNever mind all the wasted space above peoples' heads. The picture further down has people walking. They're tiny.
- Hnrobert42 1y agoIt's a shame there is no video of it filling up.
- ykonstant 1y agoIt is?!
- hinkley 1y agoThe scale of this facility is deceptive in the video. If you pay attention about halfway through, a man walks through. His head only comes up almost to the top of the taper on the footings.
- geraldmcboing 1y agoIt has a fantastic reverb too! Would love to take a drum kit down there... and a speaker to play a sweep & capture an IR. Tried using handclaps when I visited.
- socalgal2 1y agoG-Cans is impressive but there's a lot more than this protecting Tokyo from floods. A 100yrs ago they build the Arakawa river for flood control https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3tdYolqiU8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3tdYolqiU8 Also, the rivers around Tokyo all have giant flood areas (parks, golf courses, farms) they can open to hold water in an emergency.
- tecleandor 1y agoThere's is an official version in Minecraft, if you feel like visiting from home: https://www.ktr.mlit.go.jp/edogawa/edogawa01318.html https://www.ktr.mlit.go.jp/edogawa/edogawa01318.html
- ashoeafoot 1y agoWill it actually show up in real estate prices if the models say it wont?
- ykonstant 1y agoEven the word "cathedral" doesn't do justice to that structure.
- yason 1y agoIf anyone has a link to a video (or time in a video) where this thing fills up, please share.
- otikik 1y agoJapan is a great place to visit if you are even slightly interested in infrastructure. The earthquakes make it so that what would be a simple overpass has all of this ... stuff that would not exist in a more geologically stable region. Culture and food were still my main motivations for visiting, but the infrastructure part came as a nice bonus.
- PapstJL4U 1y agoColour it green and you have a Mirrors Edge Level - this really looks like the underground part in the first game. The form of the stele as an example. I am sure other cities have it as well, but it really looks close to the level.
- Xss3 1y agoLoved exploring the place in Mirrors Edge! Hauntingly beautiful.
- femto 1y agoIn a similar vein is the surge shaft being built as part of the Snowy 2.0 scheme in Australia. 28 metres diameter and 263 metres deep. It absorbs the momentum of the surge of water when the downstream power station closes its valves. https://www.snowyhydro.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/SH_56496-Snowy_2.0_Booklet_2023-210x210mm-FA_03_Web.pdf https://www.snowyhydro.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/SH_...
- cesarb 1y ago> In a similar vein is the surge shaft being built as part of the Snowy 2.0 scheme in Australia. [...] It absorbs the momentum of the surge of water when the downstream power station closes its valves. Not the same power station, but I have to post a link to one of my favorite YouTube videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJVBlhgt9j8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJVBlhgt9j8 (Obere Wasserschlosskammer).
- femto 1y agoImpressive. I don't think I'd like to be the person on the walkway. No railings and he appears not to be attached in any way.
- srean 1y agoThis cathedral is crying for a pipe organ
- aikinai 1y agoCan't believe no one has mentioned the Great Hall of Moria[0]. I always thought it was uncannily similar. [0] https://imgur.com/a/OHKifqj https://imgur.com/a/OHKifqj
- ACV001 1y agothey should have called it parliament, not cathedral. BBC don't know the meaning of the word cathedral, or was this intentional to trigger some kind of reaction from religious groups.
- beAbU 1y agoI've heard the term "Cathedral" used quite often to describe massive enclosed spaces, especially if the interior surface is stony or hard. It's a favourite in the caving community to describe very large, well, cathedrals in cave systems.
- jollyllama 1y agoSee also, from 3 days ago: "Yokohama manhole lid possibly blown off in 'air hammer phenomenon'" https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20250711_15/ https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20250711_15/
- BeFlatXIII 1y ago> “It’s like a science-fiction kind of facility,” says JICA’s Inaoka, whose job involves collaborating with experts from developing countries to share Japan’s expertise. My first thought upon seeing the photos was that this was the inspiration for many of the indoor levels in the original Half-Life. All that's missing are the headcrabs.