Townscape created by canals
-Yanagikawa goes around the castle three times, seven times, the water flows around the blooming lotus- Why does Yanagawa have so many waterways? The total distance of the canal is an astounding 930 km, the same length as between Tokyo and Hakata. To understand the reason, we need to go back to the origins of Yanagawa. The place where you are standing was once the sea. As the sediment carried by the river accumulated there, the land expanded, and Japan's largest tidal flats were created. A tidal flat is an area that appears as land when the sea goes low tide. About 2000 years ago, people began building houses in this damp marshland. However, whenever heavy rain caused the river to overflow, their houses were washed away in an instant. How could they survive in this place? They came up with the idea of digging a trench in the land and piling up the soil. This stabilized the land, allowing them to build houses and create rice fields. But that's not all. Rainwater accumulates in the ditch. Using that water makes life easier. This is the beginning of the history of canals. As time passed, the number of these canals increased, they connected to form waterways, and water towns were built. Then, during the Sengoku period, a castle was built in Yanagawa, and the canals of the castle town and castle moats were developed to a high standard. Their goal was to draw in some of the water from a large river and create a waterway that would distribute it throughout the town like a spider's web. This was a process of repeated trial and error. They failed to control the flow of the canal, and each time the water rose and flooded the town, they had to fine-tune the canal, which was the cause of the problem. Through repeated trial and error, a network of waterways like a precision machine was laid out, and a system was completed that not only provided water for daily life, but also irrigated and drained the fields. Why did they need to go to such lengths? In fact, Yanagawa faces the Ariake Sea, which has the greatest tidal range in Japan. Because of this, at high tide the sea level is higher than the land. Can you imagine that? The place where you are standing would be lower than sea level. If the levees were to break, water would rush in from the sea and flood the area. To prevent this, sturdy levees were built along the coast. However, there is another problem. That is, the water from the river flowing from upstream. Normally, the water from the river flows out into the sea, but if this place is lower than sea level, the water cannot be discharged into the sea. Therefore, the water from the river keeps accumulating in the town. That's where the canals come in. The 930km-long canals that run through Yanagawa are filled with water to hold the water and act as flood reservoirs. If time is allowed until low tide, the sea level will once again be lower than the land and the water can be drained into the sea. That's why the canals were needed. The people of Yanagawa continued to use the canal system and drink the water from the canals until before the war, but in the Showa era, an unprecedented flood occurred and the town was flooded again. This led to the construction of dams upstream, which caused the water flow in the canals to become poorer. At the same time, the waterworks were completed, and water came out when you turned on the tap. The people of Yanagawa no longer needed the canal, as they no longer had to fetch water from the river that was the canal. Before long, the canal became like a garbage dump, and the river became increasingly polluted. Eventually, the canal began to emit a foul odor, and plans were made to block it off by turning it into an underground channel. At that time, someone spoke up, saying, "Let's bring back the clear waters of our hometown's river." This person held over 100 meetings to gain the support of the local residents. The key was "memories of when the canal was clean" and "the formative experiences of playing in the river as children." Recalling these memories, the people of Yanagawa faced the canal again after having turned their backs on it for a while, in order to revive the scenery of those days, and spent several years cleaning it up. The result was the beautiful water town of Yanagawa that we know today. The scenery you see in Yanagawa has survived to this day through these stories. Why does Yanagawa have so many rivers? Perhaps the answer can be found in the stories told so far.
