After the Meiji Restoration of 1867, there was a real sense that Kyoto had lost some of its luster to the new capital, Tokyo (formerly Edo). A series of big public works projects and scientific initiatives was undertaken by the city fathers of Kyoto to help bring back the city to its prominent status. Perhaps the biggest of these successes was the Biwako Sosui Canal project to bore huge tunnels through mountains to connect Lake Biwa to Kyoto. From Kyoto zoo you can see where the canal, after plunging down the huge Keage incline, empties into the canal system. This red brick building (there was even a brick factory nearby) Across from Miyako Hotel is one of the remaining buildings of the nation’s first electric plant, which powered street lights and also Japan’s first electric streetcar system. The generator still provides power today, and was named a world landmark by an international society of electrical engineers.
by KyotoGaijin
