Usui Pass section between Yokokawa and Karuizawa
E941153
The Usui Pass section between Yokokawa and Karuizawa is a steep, historically significant mountain railway stretch in Japan that once required special engineering to handle its challenging gradients.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Usui Pass section between Yokokawa and Karuizawa canonical | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T11696187 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Usui Pass section between Yokokawa and Karuizawa Context triple: [Shinetsu Main Line, formerRackSection, Usui Pass section between Yokokawa and Karuizawa]
-
A.
Inume Pass in Kai Province
Inume Pass in Kai Province is a celebrated woodblock print by Katsushika Hokusai depicting travelers crossing a mountain pass with Mount Fuji in the distance, part of his iconic landscape series.
-
B.
Shiretoko Pass
Shiretoko Pass is a scenic mountain pass on Japan’s Shiretoko Peninsula, known for its dramatic coastal and volcanic views and as a gateway to the remote wilderness of the region.
-
C.
Nishino tunnel area
Nishino tunnel area is a district in Nishi-ku, Sapporo, known for the Nishino Tunnel and its surrounding residential and transport infrastructure.
-
D.
Odarumi Pass
Odarumi Pass is a high mountain pass in Japan’s Southern Alps, known as a key access point for hikers and climbers exploring the surrounding peaks.
-
E.
Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route
The Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route is a famous Japanese mountain sightseeing corridor known for its dramatic alpine scenery, massive snow walls, and access to the Kurobe Dam.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Usui Pass section between Yokokawa and Karuizawa Target entity description: The Usui Pass section between Yokokawa and Karuizawa is a steep, historically significant mountain railway stretch in Japan that once required special engineering to handle its challenging gradients.
-
A.
Inume Pass in Kai Province
Inume Pass in Kai Province is a celebrated woodblock print by Katsushika Hokusai depicting travelers crossing a mountain pass with Mount Fuji in the distance, part of his iconic landscape series.
-
B.
Shiretoko Pass
Shiretoko Pass is a scenic mountain pass on Japan’s Shiretoko Peninsula, known for its dramatic coastal and volcanic views and as a gateway to the remote wilderness of the region.
-
C.
Nishino tunnel area
Nishino tunnel area is a district in Nishi-ku, Sapporo, known for the Nishino Tunnel and its surrounding residential and transport infrastructure.
-
D.
Odarumi Pass
Odarumi Pass is a high mountain pass in Japan’s Southern Alps, known as a key access point for hikers and climbers exploring the surrounding peaks.
-
E.
Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route
The Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route is a famous Japanese mountain sightseeing corridor known for its dramatic alpine scenery, massive snow walls, and access to the Kurobe Dam.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (46)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
mountain railway
ⓘ
railway line section ⓘ |
| closed | 1997 ⓘ |
| closureReason | opening of the Nagano Shinkansen ⓘ |
| connects |
Karuizawa Station
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Yokokawa Station NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| convertedToAdhesionOperation | 1963 ⓘ |
| crosses | Usui Pass ⓘ |
| currentUse | partly preserved as heritage railway and walking trail ⓘ |
| electrificationSystem | 1,500 V DC overhead catenary ⓘ |
| electrified | true ⓘ |
| engineeringSignificance | one of the steepest mainline railway sections in Japan ⓘ |
| gauge | 1,067 mm ⓘ |
| hadDoubleTrackSections | true ⓘ |
| hadSpeedRestrictions | low speeds due to steep gradient ⓘ |
| hasAlternativeName | Usui Pass railway section ⓘ |
| hasFamousStructure |
Megane-bashi
ⓘ
Usui Third Bridge ⓘ |
| hasHeritageStatus | some structures designated as Important Cultural Property ⓘ |
| hasMaximumGradient |
1 in 15
ⓘ
66.7 per mille ⓘ |
| historicallySignificant | true ⓘ |
| isSteepMountainSection | true ⓘ |
| lineStatusAfter1997 | Yokokawa–Karuizawa section abandoned ⓘ |
| locatedIn |
Gunma Prefecture
ⓘ
Japan ⓘ Nagano Prefecture ⓘ |
| nearbyFacility | Usui Pass Railway Heritage Park ⓘ |
| opened | 1893 ⓘ |
| operatedBy |
East Japan Railway Company
ⓘ
Japanese National Railways ⓘ |
| partOf | Shinetsu Main Line NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| rackOperationEndYear | 1963 ⓘ |
| rackOperationStartYear | 1893 ⓘ |
| rackSystemType |
Abt system
ⓘ
linked to:
Abt rack system
|
| requiredBankEngines | true ⓘ |
| safetyMeasures | special braking systems on EF63 locomotives ⓘ |
| terrain | steep mountainous ⓘ |
| touristAttraction | historic bridges and tunnels ⓘ |
| usedRackAndPinionSystem | true ⓘ |
| usedSpecialLocomotives | EF63 class electric locomotives ⓘ |
| wasImportantLinkBetween |
Kanto region
ⓘ
linked to:
Kanto
Nagano region ⓘ
linked to:
Nagano Prefecture
|
| wasKeyRouteFor | freight traffic between Tokyo and Niigata via Shinetsu Main Line ⓘ |
| wasNotoriousFor |
challenging gradients
ⓘ
heavy operational costs ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: Usui Pass section between Yokokawa and Karuizawa Description of subject: The Usui Pass section between Yokokawa and Karuizawa is a steep, historically significant mountain railway stretch in Japan that once required special engineering to handle its challenging gradients.
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.