Unexplored Historical ”Kamenose Tunnel”

The Kamenose Tunnel is located in Kashiwara City, Osaka Prefecture, and connects Osaka and Nara Prefectures. Originally, the ground in this area has been soft, and the area has long been battling landslides. The carbon dating of wood chips found in the soil indicates that landslides had already occurred 40,000 years ago. The area is called “Fearful Slope (Osore no saka)” in the Manyoshu, Japan’s oldest anthology of poetry dating back to the 7th and 8th centuries, showing the long history of landslides.

Although the area is prone to landslides, this location has long been a key point that connects Osaka and Nara, two important political and commercial centers, and a route from Osaka to Nara was built.

It was 1889 when construction began in such a place. The construction was completed in 1892 but unfortunately collapsed due to a large landslide in 1932. And the tunnel was closed and remained unseen for a long time.

In November 2008, however, 80 years after the collapse, part of the tunnel was discovered in its original state while digging a tunnel to drain underground water to prevent a landslide. It is now registered as a part of the Japan Heritage as a valuable historic site.