Commemorating the "Japan Heritage Festival in Gokujo no Aizu" - Was Fukushima's largest economic city, Koriyama, once... a wasteland!?

Hello everyone.
Following yesterday, in anticipation of the "Japan Heritage Festival in Gokujo no Aizu" to be held in Fukushima Prefecture on the upcoming Saturday, October 26th and Sunday, October 27th, let's touch upon the Japan Heritage site spanning Koriyama City and Inawashiro Town: "The 'Single Waterway' That Opened the Future - Okubo Toshimichi's 'Last Dream' and the Path of the Pioneers: Koriyama and Inawashiro."

37 characters. As usual, the title is quite long, but it is clear at a glance that the "Single Waterway" is important.

Following yesterday's example, I looked for some appealing copy on theofficial websiteand found this:

It says, "The Longed-for Lake, to the Asaka Plain."
As indicated at the end of the official title, the setting is Koriyama and Inawashiro, so we can understand that the "longed-for lake" refers to Lake Inawashiro, and the Asaka Plain refers to the flat area where Koriyama is located.
Furthermore, since the title also mentions "Okubo Toshimichi,"
this is a story from the early Meiji period involving Koriyama and Lake Inawashiro.

So, I have created a diagram to explain exactly what this means.

The area around Koriyama Village in the past was actually a barren wasteland. The region, which frequently suffered from droughts, had many reservoirs to prepare for dry spells, but in an era of enriching the country and strengthening the military, a massive amount of water was needed to develop this land into fertile farmland.
As for why it was a "longed-for lake," it is obvious if you look at the diagram above: the water from the large Lake Inawashiro flowed only toward Aizu-Wakamatsu in the west, and that region had become a rich granary zone. From the perspective of Koriyama in the east, it was an object of extreme envy.

The east side of Lake Inawashiro is blocked by the Ou Mountains, so the water did not flow to Koriyama in the east.
In the program produced by the author and others, we captured the beliefs of the people of Koriyama at that time in this one cut and narrated it. (Narrated by Masao Kusakari)

Now, this Japan Heritage site becomes much easier to understand if you take these past geographical circumstances into account.

TheStory pageon the aforementioned official site provides historical explanations with the following headings, so please be sure to read them.

The Longed-for Lake That Does Not Flow to the Asaka Plain

Okubo Toshimichi Sees a "Dream" in the Land of Asaka

A New Challenge: Cutting Through Towering Mountains and Eras

Lake Inawashiro Brings Moisture and Development: The Climate That Became the Foundation of a "Dream"

The Hopes of the Pioneers, Blooming in the Future

In conclusion, on the premise of strictly managing the impact on the water volume flowing toward the Aizu-Wakamatsu area, a network of waterways was constructed to bring water to the Asaka Plain by 1882, and the barren wasteland became one of Fukushima's leading granary zones.
As the heading "Blooming in the Future" suggests, examples include the Asaka Plain's specialty rice, "Asaka-mai," and "Koriyama Brand Vegetables."

Both the rice and vegetables are here thanks to the blessed water from Lake Inawashiro.
The director in charge of the report who experienced the Koriyama brand vegetables highly praised them, saying, "The taste was completely different!"
When you come to Koriyama, please try them!

Lastly, though it may be repetitive, details about the Japan Heritage Festival can be found here.

In conjunction with this event, we will be releasing our company's travel program series "Japan Heritage" for a limited time of two days (from 0:00 on Saturday, October 26th to 24:00 on Sunday, October 27th).
Details are on this page of our blog.

Of course, this includes the "Single Waterway" edition of the Japan Heritage series.

See you later