疏水インクライン運河

About this photo

This photograph shows the incline at Keage on the Lake Biwa Canal (Biwako Sosui), a system that carried boats up and down a slope on carts running on rails. It appears in Kyoto Meisho (Famous Sights of Kyoto), published in 1907 (Meiji 40), and the printed title reads "Kyoto Sosui Incline Unga" (Kyoto Canal Incline).

The Lake Biwa Canal, a waterway that brings water from Lake Biwa to Kyoto, was mostly completed in 1890 (Meiji 23). Between Keage and the boat basin at Nanzenji the ground drops steeply, so boats could not simply sail through. Instead, rails were laid on a slope about 640 meters long, and carts were hauled by cable using electricity from the Keage Power Station to carry the boats. It began operating in 1891.

As railways and other transport took over, boat traffic declined, and the incline stopped in 1948. The rails and carts were restored in 1977. The incline became a National Historic Site in 1996, and in 2025 (Reiwa 7) it was designated a National Treasure as one of the Lake Biwa Canal Facilities. Today it is loved for its rows of cherry trees.

Glossary