Photo/Illutration Lake Biwa Canal was built to transport water from Lake Biwa to the city of Kyoto. The canal was recorded as one of Japan’s Heritage of Industrial Modernization sites in 2007. (Photo by Lisa Vogt)

OK, you’re in Kyoto. After you’ve had your fill of temples, shrines and gardens, what do you do? Eat tofu dishes, matcha this and that, or light Kyoto-style home cooking with boiled vegetables and marinated food called obanzai?

Nope. You’re going on an excursion first. A fascinating museum and walk await, one that deserves much more attention than it gets from visitors to the old Heiankyo.

The Lake Biwa Canal is a historic waterway constructed first in 1890 and extended again in 1912. The canal links Lake Biwa, the largest lake in the country, to the city of Kyoto. It’s an amazing industrial heritage site. You can learn all about it at Lake Biwa Canal Museum, run by the city of Kyoto, located a short stroll from Keage Station on the Tozai Line subway.

After the capital was transferred to Tokyo, Kyoto’s standing, economy and population suffered. The governor appointed a young, fresh-out-of-university Sakuro Tanabe (1861-1944) as the canal project’s chief engineer. Tanabe constructed an irrigation channel that was completed in 1890 and would provide water for industry and households, enable freight and passenger traffic, and as an afterthought, bring hydroelectric power to Kyoto.

When you enter the museum, the architecture and lighting give the impression of being inside a canal tunnel. An informative movie loop explains the incredible story of determination and sacrifice despite the numerous challenges of those involved to complete this marvel of engineering. Information panels, dioramas, maps and models paint a picture of the feat.

Outside, follow the path, and you’ll be taken to Keage Incline. It was the world’s longest railway incline at the time. Boats were hoisted onto a trolley and hauled an incredible 36-meter ascent from the Keage Boat Reservoir, which was upstream to the Nanzenji Boat Reservoir, without unloading freight. Today it is a photogenic sightseeing destination, and you can see lots of kimono-clad men and women snapping away with their smartphones.

The canal eventually joins the Philosophers’ Walk, a pedestrian path that winds from Nanzenji temple to Ginkakuji along the canal and is best traveled during sakura season.

I never took the time to think much about infrastructure, especially when visiting a historical city like Kyoto. After learning about this canal and how it laid the foundation that revitalized the ancient capital and propelled it toward prosperity once again, I find myself wanting to know about and visit many more such places.

Now, it’s time to eat. I wonder if I can find some Biwa trout around here.

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This article by Lisa Vogt, a Washington-born and Tokyo-based photographer, originally appeared in the Jan. 2-9 issue of Asahi Weekly. It is part of the series "Lisa’s Wanderings Around Japan," which depicts various places across the country through the perspective of the author, a professor at Meiji University.

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