The Japanese government has released Minecraft map, the world’s largest underground flood prevention facility. Not only is it free to download, but you can also explore one of the lesser known and iconic locations in the Tokyo area due to the comfort of your home.
The metropolitan area underground discharge channel, known for short as G-Cans, is an actual disaster prevention facility. It is most famous for its “pressure-regulated water tank.” This is a huge spongy space with 59 giant pillars. It is truly an epic, worthy of a boss battle, and it is G-Can’s most iconic sight, and even has the nickname “Underground Temple” (Chica Sinden) in Japan. It has a bag with an atmosphere and is also used as a place for music videos, Japanese TV dramas (such as Kamen Rider), and movies.
During the dry season, you can tour G-Cans in real life, but thanks to Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), you can now explore this atmospheric facility in Minecraft. The ministry has released the video on its official YouTube channel. This briefly sums up the purpose of G-Cans and shows how it looks in the blocky world of Minecraft.
Minecraft’s free G-Cans maps don’t just include facilities. There are also ground areas with rivers, houses and neighborhoods, giving players a sense of how G-Cans protect people and places in real life. You can also enter the control room and drain the floodwater into the shaft to see how it works for yourself.
G-Cans recreation in MLIT’s Minecraft is designed to educate people about facilities and how it prevents disasters. Exploring it gives players a sense of how absolutely huge G-Cans are, even in Minecraft. In real life, the G-cans concrete tunnel runs over 6km under the prefecture in Sa, part of the Greater Tokyo region. The five shafts captured water from flood-prone rivers during Japan’s rainy season (June) and typhoon season (usually around September), and then gradually released them into the much larger Edogawa River and Tokyo Bay. Completed in 2006 after more than a decade of construction, G-Cans has since played a major role in combating floods in the area.
MLIT’s G-Can Minecraft maps are available for free download from the official website of Edogawa River Officemanages the facilities. Requires version 1.21.1 of Minecraft Bedrock Edition or version 1.21.0 of Minecraft Education Edition.
Verity Townsend is a Japan-based freelance writer who previously served as editor, contributor and translator for the game news site Automaton West. She also writes about Japanese culture and films in various publications.
