Earmarked as important cultural properties, Lake Biwa Canal facilities blend into Kyoto

The Mainichi

2 days ago

KYOTO -- Multiple structures of the historic Lake Biwa Canal here are set to be designated as national treasures and important cultural properties. While they were constructed over a century ago, 20 of the 24 sites set for designation remain in use, blending into the city's landscape.
In Kyoto, a city rich in historical architecture, the structures are indispensable cultural assets. One of the structures is the Nanase River water discharge facility, part of the First Canal completed in 1890, in Kyoto's Fushimi Ward. In fact, it blends into the landscape so well that this reporter had trouble finding it, and it proved elusive even in an internet search.
After wandering along the babbling Nanase River and giving up, I headed south from Keihan Railway's Fujinomori Station along the Kamogawa Canal. It was only after passing Gokuraku-bashi bridge, built in 1922, and two more bridges, that I finally found it. Peeking out above the flowing water, red bricks could be seen.
According to the Kyoto Municipal Government, this facility, built in 1911, was designed to discharge canal water into the intersecting Nanase River. While the Kamogawa Canal is known for cherry blossoms in spring, on late afternoons in the season of green leaves it sees leisurely passersby, including people walking their dogs and high school students returning from club activities. Although I walked along the canal daily during my junior high and high school years, I never realized the presence of something that would become an important cultural property.
Following the First Canal upstream, I reached the Anshukawa aqueduct bridge in Kyoto's Yamashina Ward. This aqueduct bridge carries the canal water over the small Anshoji River. The guide on the Lake Biwa Canal Cruise boat pointed it out, but it wasn't visible from the boat. The local landmark is Kyoto Prefectural Rakutou High School. A path extends beside the school, offering a view of the bridge nestled quietly among greenery across the water.
Here, too, I passed people enjoying walks and runs. Downstream, the canal water is still used for power generation. The Second Canal, constructed alongside the First Canal at the end of the Meiji era (1868-1912), supplies 99.5% of Kyoto's drinking water after passing through a water purification plant.
(Japanese original by Yoko Minami, Kyoto Bureau)