Pop Japan

Pass through the sea with Japan's under-the-sea railway tunnel: the Seikan Tunnel.

With a length of 53.85 km, it is the world's longest tunnel with an undersea segment. It descends to a depth of 240 meters below the surface of the Tsugaru Strait. It starts on Honshu Island and ends on the Island of Hokkaido. Pushed by the concern of increasing traffic levels between the two islands, authorities began to commence work on the tunnel on 1971. It took 17 years and over 500 million yen to finish the project. Completed in 1988, the tunnel now serves around 50 travelling trains every day.

Photo by Y Kawahara. Licensed under Creative Commons (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)

Tags: travel, railway tunnel, Seikan Tunnel, Tsugaru Strait, Honshu Island, Hokkaido, train