Thoughts on the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen Kyoto Buddhist community proposes that “affecting groundwater is a thousand-year folly”
Yoshie Doi
Tearai, which still springs forth in Kyoto (Karasuma Nishikiagaru)
Photographed on July 15, 2024
I am happy to hear that Japan’s “traditional sake brewing” such as sake, shochu, and awamori is expected to be registered as an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO. The groundwater that is essential for sake brewing in Kyoto is a mysterious thing, and there are many sake breweries that make use of the earth veins, water veins, and dragon veins.
Fushimi was originally a region called “Fushimizu” (Fushimizu). I had heard that the area was so blessed with water that the wells gushed forth 24 hours a day just after the war. However, with the development of housing estates in the 1960s, the groundwater level dropped, and the amount of water that was absorbed into the ground as rainwater flowed from roofs and roads into the sewers suddenly decreased.
Emperor Showa’s accession to the throne was to take place at the Kyoto Imperial Palace in 1928 (Showa 3), and the Nara Electric Railway (now Kintetsu) at the time, in order to attract visitors to Nara, had acquired the national railway tracks from Kyoto Station to Fushimi Station, and had completed construction of a track from south of Fushimi to Nara.
Although they wanted to complete the construction from Kyoto Station to Fushimi as quickly as possible, they were not allowed to go through the Army Corps of Engineers barracks or the parade grounds, and were told that they would be allowed to go underground. The brewers and their workers, fearing that the source of the water they used for brewing sake would be affected, stepped up and appealed to the Army. However, they were asked to submit clear evidence, and a large-scale groundwater survey was conducted.
As a result, the road was elevated so as not to affect the water veins. Based on this experience, the “Fushimi Groundwater Preservation Committee” was formed in 1977 (Showa 53), and the committee pledged to cooperate by consulting the Fushimi Sake Brewers Association regarding any building construction or other work involving underground work.
Kyoto is a city of water. About 20 years ago, a scientific exploration method estimated the depth of the underground bedrock, and it was found that the city stretches 12km east to west, 33km north to south, and has a maximum depth of 800m, and contains 21.1 billion tons of water, which is comparable to Lake Biwa (27.5 billion tons).
The Kyoto Buddhist Association has expressed concern over the decline in Kyoto’s groundwater levels and has requested the Governor of Kyoto Prefecture, stating, “Kyoto has been able to maintain its 1200-year history thanks to water. The Obama-Kyoto route (Tsuruga-Obama-Kyoto-Kyoto-Tanabe-Shin-Osaka), where 80% of the route will be tunnels, will result in Kyoto, which has been able to survive thanks to the bountiful blessings of water, no longer being Kyoto.” The same request is expected to be made to the Mayor of Kyoto on the 27th.
I remembered that when I talked to gardener Jihei Ogawa about garden maintenance a long time ago, he told me, “Maintaining what’s below the soil is more important than maintaining what’s above ground.” He taught me that maintaining what’s invisible is maintaining the visible trees in the garden, and I remembered how amazing the work of a first-class gardener is.
We are now being forced to reconsider, from an intangible perspective, what impact the cutting-edge technology known as the linear motor car will have on Kyoto’s natural environment.
We, the citizens of Kyoto and all people Japanese, hope that by “protecting the mountains and groundwater,” not only nature but also culture and ways of life will be protected, and that Kyoto will remain Kyoto.
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Translated by Masami Otani
