Toxic Avenger's Tokyo Sewer Adventure: G-CANS

[Taro Toporific]

Wo okeyeh on Sunday, Nov 21 wrote....
G-Cans: massive underground water system in Japan
...mind-bogglingly complex underground. The G-Cans Project is a massive project, begun 12 years ago, to build infrastructure for preventing overflow of the major rivers and waterways spidering the city (A serious problem for Tokyo during rainy-season and typhoon season...
....The [g-cans] site is all in Japanese, but if you click around the menus a bit, there are animations and diagrams of how the system works...Supposedly the G-Cans project is also meant to be a tourist attraction, and can be visited for free. very cool.

[plastic]

my word... that absolutely stunning. i wonder if they would rent the place out for parties. its like the ultra club.

[canman]

But with all the subway lines and underground parking etc., now with this semi-sewage system that is huge and ever expanding. Doesn't all this work weaken the earth so in the event of a fairly, not really but fairly large earthquake, you are setting yourself up for some major damage. Taro, you seem to be in the know about these things, but doesn't it make sense that the more underground work the weaker the earth will be?

[Taro Toporific]

[emperor]

My former abode in Lions Mansion Komagome fell 12 cm in one month as they put in the new Tokyo Metro line there.

No way! I used to live a few doors up from Hon-Komagome (Namboku-sen) Eki!!

[Taro Toporific]

Here's more info and coments over at the OctopusDropkick website

james
Guest Nov 22

okay. did some thinking and remembering and looking around in my blog archives and came up with this website:

http://www.geo-site.jp/

looks like i toured the toranomon well in the third week of november 2003, which is about one year ago. the site was open only on wednesday and thursday in the middle of the day. it was advertised on posters hung up in the subways and i only paid any attention to it because my wife and i have a hobby of exploring tunnels in japan (mostly world war II -- okinawa, military headquarters in nagano, navy headquarters dug underneath keio univerisity). there were not so many visitors and mostly it was salarymen and office ladies from the area on lunch break.

the actually site is quite hidden. if you go to toranomon intersection you will see over to one side what looks like a construction site for a new building -- all walled in with temporary white screen and with the traffic guards at the gate. the thing is, the building never goes up - because all the work is underground. we signed in our names and then wre given a hard hat and slicker because it was raining and gloves too. then we headed down into the main floor of the well. this was a gigantic round room one level underground that had many trucks and cranes and those mobile home manager offices you see on construction sites. the workers had put up a bunch of educational displays of the construction plans and how the drill works and stuff. and there was also a gallery of portraits of all the workers.... not too many. maybe about 40? (oh just checked the website -- looks like 55 guys. and i got the project leader guy's name wrong: it's maeda-san)

http://www.geo-site.jp/men/men.html

from there we took an elevator down to the bottom of the well and then some stairs. down on the floor was a big hole that had been concreted up. this is where the next tunnel would start. the other side, where the tunnel had already been dug was capped, if i remember right. maeda -san thought it would be cool to show people what they were working on and so allowed two days for the tour. he was very proud of everything and we got to talk to a bunch of the workers. they would answer questions and show how things worked. the next part of the project, the men would construct the drill in the bottom of the well. i can't remember exactly how long that takes.... but it was several months. and then the drilling itself only takes a week or two. maybe i am wrong. i do remember there was a huge disparity of time between building the drill and the drilling. this image is of the drill bit:
http://www.g-cans.jp/photo/09.html

and this one is of the drill itself:
http://www.g-cans.jp/photo/08.html

and this is an image of one of the wells:
http://www.g-cans.jp/photo/07.html

we only saw a small portion of the entire project, and it was massively huge. it was a lot like getting a good panoramic view of the city stretching off to the horizon. like the whole thing doesn't fit into your mind in one piece.

[Kuang_Grade]

Any relation to this topic?

http://www.fuckedgaijin.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2638&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=secret+underground+city

Seven riddles suggest asecret city beneath Tokyo
Japan Times / Saturday, March 1, 2003
"Teito Tokyo Kakusareta Chikamono Himitsu" ("Imperial City Tokyo: Secret of a Hidden Underground Network"), published by Yosensha in late 2002, is already in its fifth edition.... he has a great story -- evidence of a network of tunnels and possibly an underground city beneath Tokyo that the public is totally unaware of. ....
Sitting on the Ginza subway from Suehirocho to Kanda, he says, you can see many mysterious tunnels leading off from the main track. "No such routes are shown on maps." Traveling from Kasumigaseki to Kokkai-gijidomae, there is a line off to the left that is not shown on any map. Nor is it indicated in subway construction records.
At Tameike-sanno on the Ginza Line, the first basement level is closed off, for official use only. "Go to the toilet on B2 and there is a door to B1, but locked."

My bet it's all a part of NERV's early ground work for the Evangelion project. :P

[deltaco]

I'm bored, what can I say?

G-CANS PROJECT

[Steve Bildermann]

There has been quite a bit of discussion on Metafilter as to if these photos (and the entire subject) are faked or not.

I don't know either way.

[Taro Toporific]

There has been quite a bit of discussion on Metafilter as to if these photos (and the entire subject) are faked or not.
I don't know either way.

Those poor clueless Metafilter folks neend to get out more.
Read Captain Japan's report soon: He's getting a "press tour" next week.

[deltaco]

Thanks for the hi-jack.

[Captain Japan]

Those poor clueless Metafilter folks neend to get out more.
Read Captain Japan's report soon: He's getting a "press tour" next week.

It'll more likely happen in a few weeks. Story should be ready sometime around the end of the month.

[Taro Toporific]

Those poor clueless Metafilter folks neend to get out more.
Read Captain Japan's report soon: He's getting a "press tour" next week.

It'll more likely happen in a few weeks. Story should be ready sometime around the end of the month.

Be sure to take BAD looking picture so people won't think they are fake.

[Captain Japan]

There has been quite a bit of discussion on Metafilter as to if these photos (and the entire subject) are faked or not.

Ok, here's my story...
Tokyo Underground

At the Toranomon shaft, the tunnels are concrete-lined by rings of reinforced concrete blocks, slightly curved to fit into place around the walls. A large tunneling machine, with rows of teeth affixed to a rotating shield, bores its way laterally through the soil at a diameter that ranges from five to seven meters. The concrete blocks (about the size of the tops of office desks) are pushed into place by jacks attached to the back of the machine to form one ring of the lining. Subsequent rings are added as the work, which follows the centerline of the road above, continues laterally from the hub. The digging and placement of a single ring requires about 2 hours of work.

[Captain Japan]

Here's another story...
Ducts hold lifeline for Tokyo in earthquake
Xinhua Online

TOKYO, Jan. 13 (Xinhuanet) -- At the bustling Toranomon intersection of Tokyo's Minato district, a construction site chokes the traffic. But drivers and pedestrians would not be complaining if they know that the project will be the vital support if Tokyo is jolted by destructive earthquakes.

Underneath, a giant shield machine of seven meters in diameter is rumbling forward, digging a channel that will host the city's public utility, including electricity power cables, telephone wires, gas, drinking water and sewage pipelines.

"What's unique for the ducts is that they are designed and constructed with strong resistance to earthquakes which may hit Tokyo. In most of the other countries, such tunnels mainly function to reduce traffic jams and contribute to cities' scenic beauty," said Katsuhisa Asako, who is in charge of the common utility duct project under the supervision of Tokyo National Highway Work Office....the rest...

[Taro Toporific]

Here's another story...
Ducts hold lifeline for Tokyo in earthquake
TOKYO, Jan. 13 (Xinhuanet)

What'z the deal? Was it Press Day in the sewer?

Here's AFP/Getty images take on G-Cans.

Amenities Duct Under Construction In Tokyo
TOKYO, JAPAN - JANUARY 13... The duct is being built to make maintaining essential supplies should Tokyo be hit by an earthquake]
And here....And here....And here....And well the whole damn page and just search for the term "G-Cans" here.

[Captain Japan]

What'z the deal? Was it Press Day in the sewer?

Here's AFP/Getty images take on G-Cans.

Amenities Duct Under Construction In Tokyo
TOKYO, JAPAN - JANUARY 13... The duct is being built to make maintaining essential supplies should Tokyo be hit by an earthquake]
And here....And here....And here....And well the whole damn page and just search for the term "G-Cans" here.

Technically, those are pictures of Geo-Site. G-Cans is out in Saitama.

The last tour was in December. I have no idea why all this is coming out now.

[Captain Japan]

GJ, Mulboyne and I headed on out to Saitama recently for a tour of G-Cans. Here are a few shots:

[GuyJean]

Here are a few shots:

Nice shots, Captain! It's hard to capture the immensity of the place, but your pictures do a nice job..

Just finished a video from that day:

Managing Excessive Discharge:


GJ

[Ketou]

Great shots. It looks like the setting of some computer game.

[Captain Japan]

GJ, great work! One thing we both failed to capture was just how cold it was! That was my coldest winter day this year, and it was spring.

[Mulboyne]

GJ, Mulboyne and I headed on out to Saitama recently for a tour of G-Cans. Here are a few shots:

I think I've worked out what those other guys at the site were doing. I caught the video for "Call Me" by Yoshika and it was filmed almost exclusively at G-Cans.

[Captain Japan]

Ok, so which pillar was she hiding behind? I didn't see anything like this:

[Captain Japan]

You can watch a clip from the video here.

[Mulboyne]

She doesn't look as cold as we were

[Mulboyne]

Ok, here's my story...
Tokyo Underground

Koizumi Email Magazine:

I also visited the shaft of the underground common conduit located at the Toranomon intersection. It is an enormous underground tunnel that serves as a storage space for lifelines indispensable for our daily lives, including electricity, gas, water and telecommunication networks. The advantages of an underground conduit are that it offers greater resistance to earthquakes and makes the management of the various lifelines running through it easier. An underground conduit also means that there is no need to endlessly keep digging up the roads. The city landscape also improves as utility poles are no longer needed.

I descended about 40 meters from ground level in an elevator usually used by workmen. I was astonished that such a massive underground space existed in the middle of the city. The other thing I was surprised about was that women cannot work in the tunnel area. When I asked why that was, I was told that there is a law that prohibits women from working in underground shafts and tunnels. In an era in which a woman can be the commander of the space shuttle, I was astounded that such restrictions still exist. I immediately instructed that investigation begin on an amendment to the law to enable women who wish to do so to work in tunnels and similar places.

[Captain Japan]

Koizumi Email Magazine:

I also visited the shaft of the underground common conduit located at the Toranomon intersection. It is an enormous underground tunnel that serves as a storage space for lifelines indispensable for our daily lives, including electricity, gas, water and telecommunication networks. The advantages of an underground conduit are that it offers greater resistance to earthquakes and makes the management of the various lifelines running through it easier. An underground conduit also means that there is no need to endlessly keep digging up the roads. The city landscape also improves as utility poles are no longer needed.

Mulboyne, how on earth did you make it beyond this intro?

Junichiro Koizumi here.

It is now August, and the chorus of cicadas singing can be heard all around. The chirping cicadas can also be heard in the courtyard of the Prime Minister's Office, and investigating further, I found that there were little holes around the roots of the tree where the cicada larvae had crawled out of the soil. When I looked very closely around the holes, sure enough, the cicadas' shells were there, stuck to the back of the leaves. I was impressed that the cicada larvae had managed to survive, even though the entire courtyard had been dug up at the time of the construction of the new Prime Minister's Office.

After the first three sentences, I'd have been asleep.

[Mulboyne]

Where Captain Japan leads, others follow...

Asahi: Exploring a fantastic world under the metropolis
When Nobuhisa Ueno heard the news, he immediately hopped on a bullet train heading to Tokyo. The 59-year-old patent agency worker from Nagoya was keen to get to Hibiya Park, not to view its late August greenery, but to delve into the bowels of the capital. In the two-day event, Ueno was one of 2,710 people who trekked 1.46 kilometers along the underground tunnel, along a section of what's called the Azabu-Hibiya Common Utility Duct stretching from Hibiya to Toranomon.
...Kojima believes one of the most exciting sites is the Metropolitan Area Pump Station, in Showa, Saitama Prefecture, a key facility in the Metropolitan Area Outer Discharge Channel, a grand flood-control underground project. The pump station is downstream of a 6.3-kilometer subterranean channel that extends from Showa to Kasukabe, Saitama Prefecture. The project, parts of which are still being constructed, aims to control flooding from heavy rains in the Nakagawa and Ayasegawa river basins, which flow through a vast flood plain...more...