Staring into a pitch-black void. Wading through knee-deep, stagnant water. Dangling a camera over a railing above a concrete abyss deep enough to comfortably fit the Space Shuttle, praying that you can grab a photo without losing your grip.
These are just some of the joys of touring the Metropolitan Area Outer Underground Discharge Channel, ostensibly a critical part of the capital region’s defenses against severe weather events but perhaps the greater Tokyo’s areas most unique tourist attraction.
From April 16, the facility will be conducting monthly tours of areas previously unavailable to the public: For ¥15,000, the new Underground River Walking Adventure Experience Course will bring visitors down to the bottom of the discharge channel’s 70-meter-deep, 30-meter-diameter No 3. shaft, one of five concrete silos used to contain surging waters from the Kuramatsu, Naka and other small- to medium-size rivers that have flooded the surrounding region throughout history.
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