Hachiman-bori in Omihachiman, Shiga Prefecture, was conceived under Toyotomi Hideyoshi and served as a vital commercial artery sustaining Omi merchants for centuries.
Connected to Lake Biwa’s vast transport network, it shaped a strategic commercial city blending military and economic functions.
The canal still preserves a landscape where history and nature merge, reflecting a vision rooted in Oda Nobunaga’s urban strategy.

They raced across this lake surface vertically, horizontally, and diagonally. A design exactly in the image of Oda Nobunaga, the master of his life.
2018-01-31.
The following is also from yesterday’s Sankei Shimbun.
All emphasis in the text, except for the headline, is mine.
Keiki Kadoi’s Historical Province.
Hachiman-bori.
Omihachiman City, Shiga Prefecture.
The source of Omi merchant wealth.
Its official name is Hachiman River, but it feels better to give it the antique flavor of “Hachiman-bori.”
After all, it was excavated by Hidetsugu, the nephew of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and for three hundred years of Tokugawa rule it continued to serve as the great logistical artery supporting the town of Omihachiman.
Its scenery still retains the vestiges of the past.
It is easy to see why it is often used as a filming location for period dramas, and for those fond of social media it would instantly become a masterpiece image.
The first time I visited this town was for research for “The Man Who Roofed.”
I had come to see various things related to the architect W. M. Vories, who settled in this town at the end of the Meiji era and left many works such as the Daimaru Shinsaibashi store and Meiji Gakuin University, but strangely I found myself drawn back by this Hachiman-bori, which should have had nothing to do with my purpose, and thought—next time, I will come to see this.
The second time was in midwinter.
And it was struck by snow.
At one point it became such a blizzard that I could not even see ahead.
But when it eased, what stood there was a landscape beyond the Tokugawa era, like something straight out of folklore.
I was astonished, and breathed a sigh of relief, at the fact that such a place exists only an hour by train from Osaka.
Nature and human endeavor, given the catalyst of time, have here fused perfectly.
Tracing that flow back leads ultimately to Lake Biwa.
Speaking roughly from a map seen from above, a canal is drawn south from the southern shore of Lake Biwa as if by ruler, then bent east and north to return to the lake.
That is Hachiman-bori.
Within that line stands a natural mountain, Mount Hachiman, and on it Hidetsugu built his castle, of course under the instructions of his uncle Hideyoshi.
Hideyoshi wished to create here, in effect, an Azuchi Castle for the Toyotomi clan.
A commercial city commanding Lake Biwa while also serving as a military fortress.
Lake Biwa at that time, needless to say, stood at the center of Japan and formed the stage of a vast water transport network linking Kyoto, Osaka, Hokuriku, and the eastern provinces.
Rice, salt, textiles, and soldiers all raced across this lake surface vertically, horizontally, and diagonally.
A conception exactly like that of Oda Nobunaga, the master of his life.
To be continued.