Tamagawa Aqueduct
Tamagawa Aqueduct (玉川上水, Tamagawa Jōsui) is a 43 km long Japanese aqueduct that was constructed by the Tokugawa shogunate to supply drinking and firefighting water from the Tama river to Edo, providing irrigation water around farm villages.
Construction of the aqueduct, which began in 1653, was preceded by the Bekko Shoemon arson conspiracy. Bekko led a group of rōnin who planned to depose and kill Ii Naotaka and his party. They intended to burn down temples of Edo on August 20, 1652, a religious holiday, and kill their targets during the confusion. Bekko was arrested on the eve of the planned strike, tortured and crucified. The problem of containing fires remained: the city was served by a single, and insufficient, Kanda Aqueduct.[1]
The people of Kojimachi and Shibaguchi requested permission to build another aqueduct, drawing the waters of the Tama river. The government provided 7,500 ryo for the construction, 3,000 ryo were collected by public subscription. The whole aqueduct was constructed in 18 months. The two "engineers" in charge of construction were "mere peasants". After the completion they were rewarded with family name Tamagawa and appointment as managers of the aqueduct. However, the new aqueduct did not save Edo from the devastating Great Fire of Meireki (1657).[2]
Notes
References
- Joseph H. Longford (1996). The Tokugawa epoch, 1652-1868. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-15417-0.