Path: ccsf.homeunix.org!CALA-MUZIK!newsfeed.media.kyoto-u.ac.jp!nntp.gol.com!203.216.70.8.MISMATCH!not-for-mail From: CL Newsgroups: fj.life.in-japan Subject: Re: Tokyo water canals Date: Wed, 31 Jan 2007 09:36:43 +0900 Organization: FusionGOL - Global Online Japan Lines: 30 Sender: crlipton@gol.com Message-ID: References: <45bfc75a$0$29329$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.au> NNTP-Posting-Host: 58x157x15x30.ap58.ftth.ucom.ne.jp Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Trace: nnrp.gol.com 1170203805 5290 58.157.15.30 (31 Jan 2007 00:36:45 GMT) X-Complaints-To: abuse@gol.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 31 Jan 2007 00:36:45 +0000 (UTC) User-Agent: Thunderbird 1.5.0.9 (Windows/20061207) In-Reply-To: <45bfc75a$0$29329$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.au> X-Antivirus: avast! (VPS 000709-0, 2007-01-30), Outbound message X-Antivirus-Status: Clean Xref: ccsf.homeunix.org fj.life.in-japan:165113 B Anderson wrote: > Tokyo seems to have a highly extensive network of canals. Almost > everyone in Tokyo would live near a waterway of some sort. No, it doesn't, but it used to. Mostly throughout Shitamachi. Take a look at the places that are well inland that have names like -- Kobunacho (just for one example) and nani-nani-bashi where there is nothing for a bridge to cross. Also take a look at maps now and maps of Edo and you'll see that a lot of the larger roads are covered-over waterways. Canals became the place of choice to scrape off the wreckage in 1923, 1945, and 1962 (for za Orimpikkusu). Then, instead of using the canal rights of way for a decent kosoku system, they built ugly flyovers because they produced more profit for road construction companies. > Why don't they use them for transport, in such a congested city? They use one of the bigger ones still. It is the section of the Shutoko from Hamazakibashi to the turnoff for Ikebukuro. > You could have small boats taking people (and goods) to their > destination quickly and conveniently. There would be no traffic to > compete with. Between that and raising the price of fuel, you'd wipe out the larger trucking companies. But who would send large bribes to Ishihara, then? CL