Hachimanbori Canal - a photo on Flickriver

Hachimanbori Canal

Omihachiman city,Shiga prefecture,Japan

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Boating excursions in the lakeside district. A castle town on the eastern shore of Lake Biwa-ko with a nostalgic atmosphere.

Omihachiman, that sits at the foot of Mt. Hachiman-yama in the center of Shiga, is a castle town of Hachiman-yama-jo. The castle was built in 1585 on the eastern shore Japan's largest lake, Lake Biwa. It is also known as a base town for Omi-shonin, or Omi merchants. The quaint streets with lattice windows, the pine trees stretching out from the gardens of private residence, 'udatsu' (roof of unusual shape) and the Hachiman-bori area that was the hub of ship transport all are listed and preserved as a national important preservation district for the group of historic buildings.

Until the mid 19th century, the town of Omihachiman was divided by Hachiman-bori, north of which was a residential area for the warriors and south was for the townsfolk. The area for the townsfolk was further divided into the merchants' and craftsmen's areas. The current Shin-machi-dori Street marks the former merchants' area; preserved there, and open to the public, is the former residence of a wealthy merchant family, the Nishikawas. Local Artifacts Museum was built in the grounds of the former residence of an Omi merchant who traveled abroad, Nishimura Taroemon. Next to it is the History and Folklore Museum that shows us the lives of the merchants. Along the Hachiman-bori are white-walled storehouses and old houses like Haku-un-kan, a building where western architecture and Japanese tradition are well-matched; also here is the Kawara Museum (tile museum) that displays tiles from all parts of Japan.
- Japan National Tourism Organization
www.jnto.go.jp/eng/location/regional/shiga/omihachiman.html

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"Ōmihachiman" means "Hachiman in Ōmi". When Hachiman Town (the forerunner of this city) became a city, there was the existing city of Yahata in Fukuoka Prefecture. In Japanese, "Hachiman" and "Yahata" are written by same kanji 八幡, so "Ōmi" was added to avoid being confused. "Hachiman" is the Shinto god of war. Ironically from the western point of view, his symbol is the dove.

Ōmihachiman had been a developed commercial town even since Toyotomi Hidetsugu built a castle and gathered many merchants in the last part of 16th century. Former merchant's residences and a canal used for transport are preserved in an old city area, designated a Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings　and an Important Cultural Landscape.

In 1905, an American architect William Merrell Vories came to Ōmihachiman as an English language teacher at commercial high school. Two years later he resigned the original work, but he remained in Ōmihachiman and spent most of his productive life here. He handed down western-style buildings, a pharmaceutical company, an educational foundation and a hospital to the city.　-wikipedia

Taken in: 日本 / 滋賀県 / 近江八幡市 (show map)

Taken on: May 24, 2016

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canal

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近江八幡

八幡堀

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Sets appears in: • Omihachiman　近江八幡

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Camera: Canon EOS M2, f/11.0, 1/160 sec, 28mm, ISO 800 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS M2
Aperture:	f/11.0
Exposure Time:	0.006 sec (1/160)
Focal Length:	28mm
ISO:	800
Exposure Bias:	+1.74 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Manual
Exposure Mode:	Manual
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Manual
Color Space:	sRGB
Show full info

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