The canal connects Lake Biwa and the City of Kyoto and was built in 1895 and still serves today.
The initial purposes of building this canal were to carry goods from afar to the city and generate electricity.
Today, no goods are carried along this route, but electricity is still generated.
Other modern day purposes are for water supply and fire-fighting.
The importance of this project is that it was one of the first engineering projects completed by the Japanese themselves without the aid of Western engineers.
The project employed fresh graduates to design and oversee the project.
If you walk along the canal (there are steps from the brick arches), you will reach the incline railway.
This is a small railway that was used to carry luggage up and down the hill to central Kyoto.
Today, no goods are carried; however, the incline is a beautiful place to see cherry blossoms!
Map:
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