Ukita Embankment

Japanese: 宇喜多堤 - うきたづつみ

… [Shogo Yuihama]
[History of reclamation]
From the end of the Middle Ages to the early modern period, sedimentation progressed, making Kojima Bay shallow, and large-scale reclamation work was undertaken one after another. As early as the 1580s, Ukita Hideie, lord of Okayama Castle, built the so-called "Ukita Levee" from Kurashiki in Bitchu to Hayashima, marking the beginning of the reclamation of Kojima Bay. Under the rule of the Okayama Domain, reclamation was initially carried out privately, moving south from the north shore, with notable examples being Yonekura Shinden (30 cho), developed by a local lord, and Kanaoka Shinden (232 cho), contracted out to townspeople.

From Hayashima Town

…In the past, the town overlooked Kojima Bay, but in the Tensho era (1573-92) it became the territory of the Ukita clan and reclamation was carried out. The prefectural road that runs through the town is called Ukita Levee and is the remains of the levee from that time. From the end of the early modern period, the cultivation of commercial crops such as rush and cotton began on the reclaimed land, and after that, the manufacture of tatami mats (Hayashima-omote) and flower mats became popular. …

*Some of the terminology that refers to "Ukita Dam" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

Japanese:

…【由比浜省吾】
［干拓の歴史］
　中世末期から近世にかけて土砂堆積がすすみ，児島湾は遠浅となって大規模な干拓が続出した。早くは1580年代に岡山城主宇喜多秀家が備中の倉敷から早島にかけていわゆる〈宇喜多堤〉を築いて，児島湾干拓の口火を切った。岡山藩治下での干拓は，北岸から南下する形で初めは民営で行われ，土豪開発の米倉新田(30町)や町人請負の金岡新田(232町)が注目される。…