My family went to Okutadami Dam, one of emblematic tourist spots in our Niigata Prefecture, to get on a pleasure boat and experience a beauty of the nature around the mountains. Okutadami or 奥只見 is located on the boarder between Niigata and Fukushima prefectures. Therefore, the place name uses Kanji 奥, partly meaning a backland. There, they boast not only the huge dam but also a pleasure boat to see a whole view around the man-made lake.

I took some pictures when my two kids, husband and I got on the sightseeing boat. It seems more than one hundred people were aboard at the time. They circled around Lake Okutadami, taking us about 40 minutes. What I felt first was the natural beauty of trees on mountains and pure air and calmness. Because it was before fall, the scenery was all green.

And, Okutadami Dam was made by humans in the Year Showa 35 (1960), when they started generating electricity by streams of water. According to a leaflet I was given at a visitor center, it took about 6 million people back then. Because it snows as many as six months in a year, paving concrete even in cold winter was one of hardest parts for construction workers. This mountainous area has heaviest snowfall in Niigata. That's why they take advantage of water from thawing snow to generate electricity. Please refer to the picture I posted, which is covered with huge snow over the dam lake and mountains in winter.

I can't help but appreciate hard work by so many people and respect some of them who lost on their work. Thank to the great achievement 60 years ago, we enjoy the nature and our peaceful time.

Here is the link for Okutadami pleasure boat (in Japanese).
http://www.okutadami.co.jp/boat/index.html