$7bn plan for new Japan undersea tunnel warms up after years on ice
The idea of a tunnel for auto traffic between Japan's main island of Honshu with Hokkaido to the north has gained new momentum after years of being considered a wasteful long shot.
The 31-km undersea tunnel would cost 720 billion yen ($6.97 billion) and serve as a complement to the existing, rail-only Seikan Tunnel, according to a proposal submitted last month to Transport Minister Kazuyoshi Akaba.
The massive undertaking would test the engineering ability of the country that produced the Seikan Tunnel, one of the world's longest and deepest tunnels. It would face the same budget constraints and labor shortages that have hampered other big Japanese infrastructure projects in recent years.