Recorded Joy·Rakuchū / Shijō-Kawaramachi

Takase Canal and Its Merchant Boats

The Takase Canal was cut by the merchant Suminokura Ryōi (1554–1614) and his son Sōan (1571–1632), and opened in 1614. Its name comes from the takase-bune, the shallow-draft, flat-bottomed boats that worked it. Drawing water from the Kamo River near Nijō, it ran some 10 kilometers south to Fushimi, carrying firewood, charcoal, rice and other goods into the city. It served Kyoto's freight traffic for roughly three centuries, until 1920.

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These notes come from desk research. Local traditions vary.