Minumadaiyosui (Minumadai Irrigation Canal)

Japanese: 見沼代用水 - みぬまだいようすい

It is the largest agricultural waterway in the Kanto Plain, flowing through the rice paddy areas from eastern to southern Saitama Prefecture. The main canal is 84 km long, with an irrigated area of 17,000 hectares. It was excavated by Izawa Yasobei in the mid-Edo period. The name refers to the waterway that replaces the Minuma reservoir, which was reclaimed for the development of new rice fields. The intake was made on the right bank of the Tone River near Shimonakajo in Gyoda City, and part of the Hoshikawa River was used along the way. The Motoarakawa River and Ayase River cross at a siphon called Fusegoshi, and at the end of the river near Minuma, it splits into the Eastern and Western Edge Waterways. The Eastern Edge Waterway reaches Tokyo from Kawaguchi City, and the Western Edge Waterway cuts through the Omiya Plateau and reaches the Arakawa River as the Takanuma Waterway. After the Tone Ozeki Weir was built, the old intake was closed and 45 tons of water per second began to be supplied from the weir.

[Masatami Nakayama]

Development History

In 1629 (Kan'ei 6), Kanto District Magistrate Ina Hanjuro Tadaharu built an eight-cho embankment in Omagi Village, Adachi County, Musashi Province (present-day Midori Ward, Saitama City) to create the Minuma Reservoir, which irrigated 5,000 hectares of rice paddies as a water source for 221 villages in eight territories downstream. However, this caused the land around the swamp to be submerged, leading to poor drainage upstream and a water shortage downstream. In the Kyoho era (1716-1736), as part of the Shogunate government reforms, a policy to encourage new rice field development was implemented, and plans were made to excavate a substitute irrigation canal to solve these problems and develop new rice fields by reclaiming the reservoir, and Izawa Yasobei Tamenaga, a Shogunate Accountant-in-Chief, was ordered to carry out the construction. Tamenaga inspected the reservoir in 1725 (Kyoho 10), began surveying it the following year, and completed the massive construction, stretching 84 kilometers in length, in five months from October 1727 to February 1728. A huge wooden culvert was installed at the intake, irrigation water was diverted using the Hoshikawa River along the way, and suspension culverts were erected where it intersected with other rivers, making full use of a variety of techniques. Meanwhile, in parallel with this construction, the Minuma Nakaakusui Canal (Shiba River) was excavated, the reservoir was reclaimed, and 1,800 hectares of new rice fields, including the surrounding area, were opened up. In 1731, Tamenaga also opened a canal connecting the East and West Border Canals with the Shiba River north of the Haccho Levee to facilitate boat transport.

[Susumu Ohmura]

"History of the Minuma Daiyo Canal" (1957), compiled and published by the Minuma Land Improvement District

[Reference] | Izawa Yasobei | Minuma Tsutsunabori

Minuma Tsutsunabori Canal
Japan's oldest canal with lock gates. It was excavated in 1731 (Kyoho 16) as a shipping canal connecting the eastern and western edge canals of the Minumadai Canal with the Shibakawa River. Because the water level difference between the two canals and the Shibakawa River was 3m, two lock gates were installed on each of the east and west canals to adjust the water level and allow boats to pass through. The photo shows a demonstration of the lock gates being opened and closed every year in late August. Nationally designated historic site Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture ©Saitama Convention and Visitors Bureau ">

Minuma Tsutsunabori Canal

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

埼玉県東部から南部の水田地帯を流れる関東平野最大の農業用水。幹線水路延長84キロメートル、灌漑(かんがい)面積1万7000ヘクタール。江戸中期、井沢弥惣兵衛(やそべえ)によって掘削された。名称は、新田開発のために干拓された見沼溜井(ためい)に代わる用水の意である。行田(ぎょうだ)市下中条(しもちゅうじょう)付近の利根(とね)川右岸に取水口をつくり、途中、星川の流路の一部を使い、元荒川や綾瀬(あやせ)川は伏越(ふせごし)といわれるサイホンで立体交差し、末端の見沼付近で東縁用水(ひがしべりようすい)・西縁用水に分かれる。さらに東縁用水は川口市から東京都に至り、西縁用水は大宮台地を切って高沼用水として荒川に達する。利根大堰(おおぜき)ができてから、旧取水口は閉鎖され、大堰から毎秒45トンの水を供給するようになった。

［中山正民］

開発史

1629年（寛永6）関東郡代伊奈(いな)半十郎忠治(ただはる)が、武蔵(むさし)国足立(あだち)郡大間木(おおまぎ)村（現、さいたま市緑区）に八丁堤を築いて造成した見沼溜井は、下流8か領221か村の水源として5000ヘクタールの水田を灌漑した。しかしこれにより沼周辺の地は水没し、上流は排水不良、下流は用水不足に悩まされた。享保(きょうほう)年間（1716～1736）の幕政改革による新田開発奨励策のもとで、これらの問題を解決し、あわせて溜井干拓による新田開発を目的として代用水路の開削が計画され、幕府勘定吟味(かんじょうぎんみ)役井沢弥惣兵衛為永(ためなが)に施工が命ぜられた。為永は1725年（享保10）溜井を検分、翌年測量に着手、1727年10月から1728年の2月までの5か月間で、延長84キロメートルに及ぶ大工事を完成させた。取水口には巨大な木造樋管(ひかん)を設け、途中、星川を利用して用水を導き、他の河川と交差する所では懸樋(かけどい)を架けるなど、さまざまな技術が駆使された。一方この工事と並行して見沼中悪水路(なかあくすいろ)（芝川）が掘削され、溜井の干拓が行われ、周辺を含めて新たに1800町歩の新田が開かれた。なお、為永は1731年に八丁堤の北で東・西縁用水と芝川を結ぶ通船堀を開き、舟運の便を図った。

［大村　進］

『見沼土地改良区編・刊『見沼代用水沿革史』（1957）』

[参照項目] | 井沢弥惣兵衛 | 見沼通船堀

見沼通船堀
日本最古の閘門式運河。見沼代用水の東縁・西縁用水と芝川を結ぶ通船用水路として、1731年（享保16）に開削された。両用水と芝川との水位差が3mあったため、東西の通船堀に各2か所ずつ閘門を設けて水位を調整、舟を通した。写真は毎年8月下旬に行われる閘門開閉実演のようす。国指定史跡　埼玉県さいたま市©さいたま観光コンベンションビューロー">

見沼通船堀

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