Five members of the Mie Prefectural Council for the Promotion of the Japan-Korea Tunnel visit the Tsushima Incline Shaft site
A five-person inspection team from the Mie Prefectural Council for Promotion of the Japan-Korea Tunnel visited the site in Tsushima with the aim of "walking the 230km long Japan-Korea Tunnel Route." This was planned in July of last year, and although they had traveled as far as Karatsu and Iki, they were forced to stop their tour at Iki due to a direct hit from Tsushima by a typhoon last summer, and now they have completed the latter part of their tour, visiting Tsushima and Korea.
On July 24th, a five-person inspection team from the Mie Prefectural Council for the Promotion of a Japan-Korea Tunnel arrived at Tsushima by high-speed ferry from Busan, South Korea. Tsushima's second-largest port town, Hitakatsu Port, is the island's northern gateway, and the team was whisked into the international terminal building alongside an overflowing number of Korean tourists, including families, on summer vacation. The tourism industry in Tsushima is booming due to the "special demand from Korean tourists," with large buses lined up in the parking lot and makeshift transport vehicles and staff scurrying about.
After listening to a report on the current situation from Director Uchiyama at the Tsushima site office, the group visited the Are inclined tunnel entrance. As the saying goes, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step," even for a huge project, the Japan-Korea Tunnel is still only at its entrance, but from there, with a direct view of the Korea Strait flowing westward, the group's thoughts grew about the dream of the tunnel becoming a reality.
After returning to Busan, the next day I visited Geoje Island, the landing point in Korea. Although it is still just a vacant lot, momentum is building up in Korea, and if Japanese people start visiting the site, it will be recognized as a joint project between Japan and Korea.
[Photo] July 24th, Are Inclined Shaft Entrance Site. Heading towards South Korea from the Korea Strait.
[Photo] While enjoying horse mackerel from Tsushima, the group listens to Director Uchiyama's report on the current situation.
[Photo] The international terminal at Hitakatsu Port, Tsushima's northern gateway, is crowded with Korean tourists.
[Photo] July 26th, 2015, at the planned site for the Ashibe Inclined Shaft Entrance in Iki. Final surveying for the shaft entrance was carried out in May of this year.
[Photo] July 25th, 2015, at the 540m end of the Karatsu Nagoya Incline Shaft in Saga Prefecture
