The Kurobe River springs from the Northern Alps Mountain Range in the Chubu Sangaku National Park and is the swiftest river in Japan, passing through steeply graded, deep gorges before discharging into the Sea of Japan.

The Dashidaira Dam was constructed by the Kansai Electric Power Co. (KEPCO) on the middle stretch of the Kurobe River (approximately 26 km from the river mouth). The dam creates a storage for the Otozawa Power Station, which commenced construction in 1982 and was operational by 1985.