[srvmshr]

I 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/8Q08eKS.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.

[bschwindHN]

Weird, I visited last year and don't remember having a hard time getting tickets. Maybe I got lucky.

Here are a couple photos I took with people for scale:

https://imgur.com/a/DPYYou4

[razkarcy]

Thank you for these; they convey the relative proportion very well and have satiated my curiosity.

[jonnybgood]

I'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.

[bencyoung]

The Fens in East Anglia in the UK has a lot of interesting pumping tech. The latest can do 100m3/s (https://www.edie.net/st-germans-pumping-station-keeps-fens-f...). If all the pumps failed there would be hundreds of km2 underwater within days or weeks

[Yeul]

In WW2 the Dutch government had to ask the Allies not to bomb any power stations. If left to nature the entire country would disappear in weeks...

[left-struck]

> 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).

You probably mean pumping stations right? Usually single pumps don’t have that kind of flow rate. Just a nit pick though, your comment was really interesting!

[srvmshr]

I'm sorry, yes, two stations with huge pumps. They are like towers, but built from basement level downwards if that impression makes sense.

[OneDeuxTriSeiGo]

Yeah throughout the entire facility (several large chambers with large tunnels between them) there's something like eighty 10MW pumps to move water out of the chambers into the river.

[userbinator]

It must be the lighting and colouration, as your first two photos actually look like CGI or some sort of painted art.

[skhr0680]

I had to dust off a useless memory, but it looks exactly like Doom2 Map06 with Quake2 lighting added by the source port Doom Legacy

[oceanhaiyang]

And you gotta speak decent Japanese or have someone with you who does in case of emergency!

Those pictures look unreal!

[ryao]

The 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]

> 逃げろ "RUN!", correct?

[skhr0680]

If 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.”

[BeFlatXIII]

The one with the stairs could've been ripped straight from the original Half-Life. Makes me want to play it again. Thank you for the reminder.

[lupusreal]

My first thought was Akira, but it's almost the same thing; there are some parts of Half Life which are lifted almost directly from Akira, like the first diagonal elevator that headcrabs slide down.

[progman32]

Dead ringer for the underground sections of Mirror's Edge.

[whtrbt]

I'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.

[rayiner]

I love civil engineers.

[tonyhart7]

are you japanese ??? or foreigner that marry local?