The Kiire Base was originally constructed in the former Kiire-cho, Ibusuki-gun, Kagoshima Prefecture as an oil stock site for the former Nippon Oil Corporation and began operating in September, 1969. It had the stockpile capacity of 1.2 million KL which later increased to 3.3 million KL with the first stage of the construction completed in December, 1972. When the second stage of the construction was completed, the oil stockpile capacity increased to 7.2 million KL which was close to that of the present one.  It was in April, 1994 that the capacity became the present 7.35 million KL.

The Kiire Base, with the outer circumference of 5.5 km and with the ground area of 1,925,000㎡,(which is equivalent to about 40 times the size of the Tokyo Dome), has 24 crude oil tanks for the 160,000KL-class, 30 tanks for the 100,000KL-class and 3 tanks for the 50,000KL-class、thus, 57 tanks in total. A huge crude oil tanker of the 300,000-ton class can dock here as well. About 80% of the large-sized tankers that come from abroad, come to Japan via the Kiire Base. At present, this base receives about 30 kinds of crude oil from 11 different countries, where some crude oil is blended to meet Japanese oil refinery demand.

All oil companies are obligated to stock the equivalency of 70 days of domestic oil consumption, based on the Petroleum Stockpiling Law enacted in 1975. This law was amended in 2001 and entitled the Sekiyu no Bichiku no Kakuho nadoni kansuru Horitsu: a law regarding such issues as securing oil stock. In fact, 160 days of oil consumption is always reserved, which includes an amount of 90 days of national reserves.

The oil stock capacity of 7.35 million KL of the Kiire Base is equivalent to the oil consumption for 2 weeks in Japan. Currently, the crude oil reserves of the Kiire Base hold 2.5 million KL by government stockpiling, and approximately 2.7 million KL of reserves is owned by the Nippon Oil Corporation Group companies, which reserve as much as 5.2 million KL.

Yokohama Marine Tower is a symbol of Yokohama and stands in Yamashita Park. The tower took 13 months to build, and was modeled after a lighthouse in order to show the character of Yokohama. It functions as a lighthouse. It is 106 meters high and is recorded as the tallest lighthouse in the world. There is a 100 meter high observation deck where visitors can see the city and port.
On December 25, 2006, the Tower was closed because of financial difficulties. Yokohama City took possession and repaired the Tower, as well as looked for a company to manage it. List Co., Ltd. received the priority negotiation rights and will reopen the Tower in 2009 in time for the 150th anniversary of the opening of the Yokohama port.

Address: 15 Yamashita-Cho Naka-Ku Yokohama-Shi Kanagawa-Ken
Location: A 1-minute walk from the Motomachi-Chukagai Station, Minatomirai Line, Yokohama Minatomirai Railway
A 12-minute walk from the Ishikawa-Cho Station or Kannai Station, Negishi Line, East Japan Railway
At the Marine-Tower-Mae bus stop, Yokohama City Bus

1,500,000 yen was appropriated for construction but it ended up costing 9 million yen (presently 40 billion yen) over 4 years
The hotel gained publicity since it had withstood The Great Kanto Earthquake, which happened on opening day, without big damages.

It was used as an evacuation area for earthquake victims. The hotel made efforts to rebuild after the earthquake by providing food supplies, providing foreign embassies with special facilities as well as using its lobby for newspaper publishing companies.

“Omura Airport” opened in 1955 on the same location that had been used as an airport by the old naval forces from the Taisho Era, and therefore a new airport was badly needed as the demand for airlines increased rapidly and the size of the individual aircraft had become larger. In March 1969 at the Nagasaki prefectural assembly, governor Katsuya Sato announced that Minoshima Island in Omura Bay was a strong candidate for the site of the new Omura Airport. However, the inhabitants of the island and fishermen were opposed to it, and subsequently the project for the new Omura airport ran into trouble.

The following year in 1970, hearing the story of Minoshima Island moved the new governor Kanichi Kubo.  Although he tried to go ahead with the plan, the project faced more adversity when the governor got dead drunk and fell asleep, leaving the memo with the individual compensation amounts out for everyone to see. Kanichi Kubo went through hardship by allowing others to know the compensation amounts, however he remedied this by visiting the island for the 13th time.

The construction started in January 1972 and three years later the new airport was opened. The airports’ name was changed to Nagasaki Airport. 
It is the real first seadrome in the world whose aim is to be a model airport without pollution.
Regular service from Nagasaki to Shanghai was opened in September 1979 with this being the first step towards Nagasaki Airport becoming an international airport. Afterwards, the runway was expanded to 3,000m and regular flights to Korea went into service in December 1988.

Extensions to the domestic and international flight terminals have been carried out repeatedly to become what it is today.
In 1990, the supersonic passenger airplane “Concorde” built by Anglo-French joint development landed as a part of “Travel Exposition ’90 – Nagasaki”. 
It is one of the very few airports in Japan where the Concorde landed.

Kansai International Airport (関西国際空港) was built on a man made island in the Gulf of Osaka, off the coast of Senshu.  It sits about 5 kilometers from shore. The only access to KIX is via the Sky Gate Bridge R. One end of the bridge lies in the Rinku area of Izumisano City in Osaka, the other, Kansai International Airport.  Construction on the bridge began in June of 1987 and was completed in March of 1994.

The access bridge is multi-leveled; the upper-level is a 6 lane road, the lower level is a 2 track railway.  Electricity, gas, water service, telephone and all others utilities in the airport cross the bridge. The bridge was given the name “Sky Gate Bridge R”, the R comes from the first letter of the words Road, Railway and Rinku.

Generally, a bridge more than 3 kilometers in length is a suspension bridge. It needs supporting beams several hundred meters high, but around an airport, supporting beams of such height can not be built because of the arriving and departing airplanes. The solution was building a truss bridge, which does not need high supporting beams.

(Note) truss bridge: a bridge constructed using the truss structure (girders joined in the shape of triangles).

The main shipping route for larger ships in the Gulf of Osaka is usually between Sakishima and Yumeshima islands, smaller ships generally navigate between Maishima and Yumeshima Islands (also known as the northern route). Thanks to the technology of the turntable bridge, Yumemai-ohashi can be rotated to allow larger ships to pass through the northern route when the main route is inaccessible due to an accident.

There are many forms of movable bridges. In the case of Yumemai-ohashi, a floating design was chosen because both Maishima and Yumeshima are reclaimed land and this structure is best suited for the soft ground of the man made islands.  The floating bridge is rotated using a tugboat allowing large ships to pass. This is the first time this design has been put into use.

The main body of this bridge weighs about 30,000 tons. The bridge is supported by two pontoons (box-shaped structures), which the bridge uses to float. The floating portion is about 410 meters long. The axis point is located on the Maishima side, which allows the bridge to be turned up to 90 degrees. In the case of an accident, several tugboats rotate the main body of the bridge to allow big ships to navigate between Maishima and Yumeshima Islands.

Tokyo Bay can be crossed by bridge and tunnel, and takes 15 minutes to go from Kisarazu to Kawasaki. Prior to construction, commuting between these two cities took one hour or more. The sea route of the Aqua-line measures 5.1km, while the undersea route length is about 10km. “Umi Hotaru”, an artificial island, is 4.4km off the coast of Kisarazu and separates these two sections.

The upper and lower part of the bridge were manufactured on land and transported by sea, to be set up with a crane and bogie ship. The tunnel part was dug with a sealed shield machine in order to overcome the difficult conditions set by high water pressure and a soft foundation. The machine is cylindrical, 14.14m in diameter, 13.5m in body length, and weighs 3.2t, making it fall into the world’s largest class. Using eight shield machines, the tunnel was constructed and finished at the depth of 60m below sea level. There is an upper tunnel and lower one, with a width of two traffic lanes on each side.

In considering environmental preservation, a film was placed to prevent contamination in the sea and soundproofing measures were established. This received praise worldwide.

The great shrine is said to have been built in the spot where the god Ookuninushi presented the country he built to the Sun Goddess Amaterasu. The text of the two oldest chronicles of Japan, the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki both describe a shrine: the Amenomiaraka Shrine in the Kojiki and the Amenohisunomiya Shrine in the Nihon Shoki. They are supposed to be the original Grand Shrine of Izumo. The Grand Shrine of Izumo was called the Grand Shrine of Kitsuki for a long time until its name was changed in the Meiji era.

Though the height of the present building of the Shinto shrine is eight jo (24metres), which corresponds to a building seven stories high, in the Heian period it was twice as high as the present one. This shrine was perhaps the largest wooden building in the world and it was the oldest Taishazukuri (the main Shinto shrine architectural style typified by he Grand shrine of Izumo) structure. The “Kuchizusami”(humming), a textbook for aristocratic children in the mid-Heian period, wrote ‘Unta, Wani and Kyosan’ which is said to show the size ranking of the building at that time. The Grand Shrine of Izumo took the first place, the second one was the Todaiji Temple of the Great Buddha and the third one was the Heian-gu Daigokuden (the council hall of the Heian shrine). At that time, its size exceeded the 15 jo (45 metres) height of the Todaiji Temple of the Great Buddha.

However, surviving records show that its large size caused it to collapse 6 or 7 times during a time span of about 200 years from the mid-Heian period to the beginning of the Kamakura period. It was reconstructed every time.
On the basis of the “Kanawano-gozoei-sashizu” documents of the Grand Shrine of Izumo dating from that time and which are transmitted from generation to generation in the Shrine and Senke families, Toshio Fukuyama, a doctor of engineering created a restoration chart and a major construction company assembled a research team. They created a restoration simulation of the mid-Heian inner sanctuary of the Grand Shrine of Izumo by computer. It showed that the building could withstand earthquakes of a magnitude of about three on the Japanese scale and winds of about 30 metres per second.

Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. completed the tunnel excavation from the more difficult French side using giant high-tech tunnel boring machines, and took only 3 years to complete the project.
In the case of large scale tunnels, Japanese machines are set there, automatically digging and cementing the walls.  All over the world, such work is left to Japanese tunnel boring machines.

The Odate Sea of Trees Dome was designed by the architects Toyo Ito & Associates, and was built by Takenaka Corporation (from July 1995 to June 1997). About 25,000 glued laminated planks of Aita Japanese cedar wood (more than 60 years old and more than 20cm in diameter) from the northern prefecture were used.

The supply system of wood in Japan has evolved with the times. The time needed for harvesting and processing structural timber which is used to build the dome is shortened and so is the transportation distance and the time needed for transportation. This has reduced the environmental burden caused by the transportation process.

A beauty in art and design that harmonizes with nature and the creation of a rich space becomes the theme, and it can create an attractive space with the feeling of softness and warmth of natural bark.

The shape of the dome’s roof is like an egg that corresponds to the track of a baseball. It minimizes the resistance caused by the monsoon in winter and it maximizes natural ventilation, (caused by both the wind and temperature differences) in summer. An 8% permeable Teflon film (double compound formation) can be used for the entire roof. A lighting strength of 1,000 to 1,200 lux is assured throughout the year. This reduces the amount of electricity needed for lighting and creates a bright and healthy space.

It is not only used as a multipurpose arena for baseball, soccer, track, field tennis and others, but also as an event site.

Wasyuzan Tunnel was completed in 1985 and opened to traffic on April 10, 1988. The Tunnel is connected to Seto-Ohashi on the Kojima-Sakaide route, which links Honshu and Shikoku. There are three routes between Honshu and Shikoku: Kobe-Naruto, Kojima-Sakaide and Onomichi-Imabari. Of the routes, Kojima-Sakaide opened to traffic first in 1988.

The length of the upper tunnels is 205 meters. The lower tunnels measure 230 meters.  The upper routes are the up and down lines of the Seto-Chuo Expressway, while the lower routes are the Hon-Shi-Bisan Line (Seto-Ohasi Line). The Shikoku Shinkansen is going to pass there in the future, too.

Leveling the mountain was the initial plan, but because Mt. Wasyu is in Setonaikai National Park, its preservation must be observed. Thus, the method to tunnel through was adopted.

A design has existed for the Seikan Tunnel (connecting Hakodate-shi in Hokkaido with Aomori Prefecture in Honshu) since the Greater East Asia War. In 1923, Kakuji Abe, a merchant dealing with marine products in Hakodate introduced the idea in the “Great Hakodate Theory” which explored the future of Hakodate.
At the time, there was already a plan to connect the four Japanese Islands by railway called, “Design for a high speed train running throughout Japan”.

In 1946, the plan for the Seikan Tunnel project was pushed forward and a geological survey was started in Honshu and Hokkaido. However, the realization of the huge project was very difficult and continuing a detailed investigation proved impossible in Japan after its defeat in the war.

On September 26, 1954, Typhoon No.15 caused a large-scale sea accident to occur. The Seikan ferry, Toya-maru as well as the Seikan-maru No.11, Kitami-maru, Hidaka-maru and Tokachi-maru sank. 1,430 passengers and crew were killed.
 
Triggered by this large-scale sea disaster, the design of the Seikan Tunnel, connecting Honshu and Hokkaido, was rapidly realized.
On March 23, 1961, the digging of the inclined tunnel in Yoshioka, Hokkaido started .

On March 24, 1967, the digging of the pilot tunnel in Hokkaido was started.

On November 27, 1971, the groundbreaking ceremony for the main tunnel took place.

In May, 1976, the Seikan Tunnel was nearly submerged by an abnormal flood, but overcame the difficulty.

On January 27, 1983, the pilot tunnel went through.

On March 10, 1985, after much difficulty, the main tunnel penetrated.

From the geological survey in April, 1946 to the opening to traffic in March, 1988, the tunnel took 42 years to be fully completed. From the start of construction in 1964 to completion took 24 years.

The construction costs, which included the Seikan Tunnel and the tunnel approaches of the Tsugaru Straits Line, etc., were 689 billion yen. It was the project of the century.

Honshu and Awaji (or Honshu and Shikoku) extend the land by enabling traffic over the bridge. The bridge is 3,911 meters long overall and the central span is 1,991 meters. The main supporting tower is 298.3 meters, ranking as the second tallest structure in Japan behind the Tokyo Tower (333m).
A cable 1,122m in diameter has 36,830 high intensity galvanized steel lines, 5.23mm in diameter bundled.
There are 300,000 kilometers of the total extension of stranded cable. The high intensity galvanized steel line of 180 sq. kg/mm used for the first time in the world, is the highest quality that has been manufactured only in Japan. The foundation of the abutments of the bridge of Honshu supporting the tension of the cable is round shape which is 85m in diameter and 63.5m in depth. About 350,000t of concrete is used for the main part.

It opened for traffic on April 5, 1998 (Heisei 10).
It is the longest suspension bridge in the world, built over Matsuho, Awaji-cho, Tsuna-gun in Awaji Island and Maiko, Tarumi-ku, Kobe.
Although full length was 3,910m and the central span was 1,990m at the beginning of construction, the foundation shifted by the Great Hanshin Earthquake on January 17, 1995, and so it was extended 1m.

Although the length of the center span was planned to be 1,780m and it was to be used as a road and a railroad bridge, the problem of construction costs altered the plan so that the bridge is used as only a road on August 27, 1985. Construction costs about 500 billion yen.

Although there was appeal by the public to nickname it the Pearl Bridge, the locals rarely use this name.
Although the name may be abbreviated to Akashi Ohashi, Akashi Ohashi is the proper name of a bridge where the national highway No.2 crosses the Akashi River of Akashi-shi. Although Akashi Kaikyo Bridge has the name of a place called Akashi, it is not in contact with Akashi-shi, Hyogo.

Now it is important to point out of the bridges that connects each big city in Kinki, Honshu and Shikoku district, it is the most heavily-trafficked. One advantage, for example, is the stabilization of the agriculture and fishery products from Tokushima, which was just taken in the morning but can be shipped now in the direction of Keihanshin. It is said that the shipment of native chicken and the Awao chicken of Tokushima Prefecture has doubled especially. Thus, it came to occupy a larger share of the market in Keihanshin with bigger agricultural and fishery product of Shikoku than before.

Moreover, the high-volume water pipe, the high-tension-transmission line, the mass cable for communication, etc., are stored by the inside of a bridge beam, and the supply of the water stabilized in Awaji-shima which was a water shortage chronically was brought to it.

Regarding the structural integrity of the bridge, it is considered to be the superstructure that can bear the wind is up to 80m/s. It is considered the design that can also bear an earthquake of the scale of magnitude 8.5 on the Richter scale, which happens on the boundary of the Pacific plate and may occur once every 150 years around the bridge construction point.

In 743(Tenpyo era 15), according to an order of Kokubunji elected by the Emperor Shomu two years before, the construction of Todaiji Temple was requested as the head temple of all provincial temples in Japan.

In 747, the Hall of the Great Buddha was started to be built. A consecrating ceremony of the newly made Great Buddha was held in 752(Tenpyoshoho 4). The Hall of the Great Buddha which was 1.5 times wider than today, was destroyed by fire in two wars. The current Hall of the Great Buddha is 57m wide(east-west), 50.5m long (north-south)and 47.5m high. It was rebuilt in 1709, in the Edo era(Hoei 6). Nandai-mon, Kaizan-do and Hokke-do-raido are buildings of Todaiji Temple left from the Kamakura era.

In 1993 Todaiji Temple was registered as one of the world’s cultural heritage. It is a treasure of Global Buddhism.

The Osaka Monorail opened in June 1990. The first line ran 6.6 kilometres between Senri-Chuo and Minami-Ibaraki stations. The new railway opened in August 1997. It was 7.9 kilometres long and connected Minami-Ibaraki with Kadoma city. After the railway between Osaka International Airport and Kadoma opened, Osaka Monorail was the longest monorail when combined with the 13.3 kilometre way between Osaka International Airport and Minami-Ibaraki, surpassing Tokyo Monorail, the previous longest monorail (16.9 kilometres).

The Osaka Monorail is operated by Osaka Monorail Co., Ltd. and is 28.0 kilometres long as of April 2007(including the mail line, Saito Line). Osaka Monorail Line (Main line) from Osaka International Airport to Kadoma is 21.2 kilometres long, International Culture Park Line (Saito Line) from Expo Park to Saito-Nishi is 6.8 kilometres long.

There are two types of monorail systems, Alweg straddle-type and Safage suspension type. Osaka Monorail has the Alweg system.

The Guinness World Record of the longest monorail with the Safage system, incidentally, is the Chiba Urban Monorail.

The railway of Tohoku Shinkansen between Hachinohe Station and Shin-Aomori Station (81.2km) is now under construction, with completion aimed for 2010. Along the length of the railway is the Hakkoda Range of 16 mountains. The Hakkoda Tunnel is located in the northern end of Hakkoda Mountain. It passes through the Hakkoda Range and links the village of Tenmabayashi-mura with Aomori City. The entire length of its 26,455m covers 1/3 of the Tohoku Shinkansen railway between Hachinohe and Shin-Aomori. When it opens, it will link Shichinohe Station (a tentative name) and Shin-Aomori Station.  
 
Construction of the Tunnel started in August 1998 and digging began in June 1999. The entire project was divided into six sections. It was completed on February 27, 2005 – six and a half years later. It surpassed the Iwate-Ichinohe Tunnel (25.81km) of the same Tohoku Shinkansen railway to become the longest land-based tunnel in the world.  However, about two months later, Lotschberg Base Tunnel (about 34.6km) in Switzerland finished construction on April 28, 2005, forcing Hakkoda to give uｐ its title of the longest land-based tunnel in the world.

The Lotschberg Base Tunnel began service on June 15, 2007, but only 1/3 of its south side is double-track, while the rest is single-track. Therefore, the Hakkoda Tunnel is still the longest land-based double track tunnel in the world.