Latest news with #LakeBiwa
Japan Times
18-05-2025
- General
- Japan Times
Lake Biwa canal facilities recommended for national treasure designation
A government panel has proposed that some Lake Biwa canal facilities in western Japan be collectively designated as a national treasure. Five of the canal facilities, which were built to help carry water from Japan's largest freshwater lake located in Shiga Prefecture to the city of Kyoto, were recommended Friday by the Council for Cultural Affairs to become a new addition to Japan's list of national treasures. The five include the Suirokaku Aqueduct built within the grounds of Nanzenji Temple in the city of Kyoto. The panel also recommended that the former main building of the Keage hydroelectric power plant and 18 other Lake Biwa canal-related sites be collectively added to Japan's list of important cultural properties. Incorporating the most advanced civil engineering technology during the mid-Meiji period in Japan, the Lake Biwa canal facilities not only played key roles in water infrastructure and power generation, but also in irrigation and waterway transportation. The council also proposed designating the Tower of the Sun in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, which was the symbol of the 1970 World Exposition in Osaka, and six other sites as important cultural properties. The tower, designed by the late artist Taro Okamoto, was part of a pavilion on the event's theme of "Progress and Harmony for Mankind." Featuring state-of-the-art technologies of the time to bring Okamoto's design to life, the tower is now considered a key legacy of the 1970 Expo that symbolized Japan during a period of high economic growth. The designations are expected to be approved soon, taking the total number of sites on the important cultural property list to 2,597, including 233 national treasures.
NHK
16-05-2025
- NHK
Japan to list historic canal as national treasure
Japan's government is updating its list of national treasures. The new addition is a historic canal running from Lake Biwa to the city of Kyoto. The Agency for Cultural Affairs made the announcement on Friday. An expert panel singled out five facilities, including a brick aqueduct at Nanzenji Temple, three tunnels, and a railway for transporting boats up and down a slope. They were constructed during the Meiji era in the late 19th century, when Japan adopted engineering and construction technologies from the West. The experts say the facilities are profoundly significant because they became an essential part of Kyoto's landscape. The agency also says a set of 24 structures along the canal will be designated as important cultural properties. And so will "Tower of the Sun," a landmark in Osaka Prefecture designed by artist Okamoto Taro. The work served as the centerpiece of the 1970 World Expo. The expert panel says the event has come to symbolize Japan's postwar economic boom.
Japan Times
13-05-2025
- General
- Japan Times
Shiga chef turns stinky sushi into cheesecake
A restaurant chef in Shiga Prefecture has developed a cheesecake using an ingredient from funazushi, one of Japan's pungent traditional sushi types known as narezushi, in an effort to draw more attention to the western region's local cuisine. Funazushi uses rice with nigorobuna crucian carp or other fish caught in Shiga Prefecture's Lake Biwa, the country's largest freshwater lake. As the fish and rice are fermented with salt, it has a strong smell. Girasole, a restaurant in the city of Hikone, has been serving the funazushi-derived Basque-style cheesecake since April 2021. The cake was created by owner and chef Shoichi Kojima, 40, who moved to Hikone in 2015 after getting married. The native of the central prefecture of Yamanashi was not familiar with funazushi before coming to the city but got hooked on the food after trying to make it at a friend's suggestion. To develop a recipe, he adopted a local lake fish broker's advice to use powdered "ii," or the fermented rice of funazushi. "I thought funazushi and cheese are both fermented foods and would go well together," Kojima says. After several failures, he finally hit on the right ii-to-dough ratio and completed the recipe in February 2021. Noting that the cake has been selling well, Kojima expressed hope that it will offer an opportunity for funazushi lovers to rediscover its appeal and attract interest from those who have never tried it. In Shiga, some other restaurants are also trying to cultivate the fermented food's potential, by using ii in potato salad and sandwiching homemade funazushi between buns. Michinori Hashimoto, a Kyoto Kacho University professor who is well-versed in the history of funazushi, said that the method for making the preservative food has changed over time. It is now common to marinate funazushi ingredients in summer when fermentation occurs more easily. A cookbook published during the Edo Period (1603-1868), however, describes how to marinate them in winter, according to Hashimoto. "Modifying (the recipe) according to the times will help pass on funazushi to young people and the next generation," he says.
