$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.