Lake Biwa Canal
A canal which connects Lake Biwa and Kyoto. The canal was planned by then governor of Kyoto Prefecture Kunimichi Kitagaki in the Meiji period in order to reinvigorate a Kyoto that had declined due to the ravages of the Battle of Toba-Fushimi and the relocation of the capital to Tokyo. The 20-kilometer-long Canal No. 1 was built first, followed by Canal No. 2 and canal sublines. The canal played a key role in the modern urban development of Kyoto and even today still supplies Kyoto neighborhoods with water.