[Tokyo] Surprised by the Edo period water supply!? Tokyo Metropolitan Waterworks History Museum

Did you know that there was water supply in the Edo period? Although it was quite different from the water supply we use today, Edo towns had a well-developed water supply network. The Tokyo Metropolitan Waterworks History Museum exhibits actual water pipes and miniature models from the Edo period to the present, allowing you to experience the drama of maintaining the world's best water pipes from the Edo period to the present.

Tokyo's water supply began in the Edo period.

Water pipes from the Edo period (Mokuhi)

The Tokyo Metropolitan Waterworks History Museum was opened in 1995 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Waterworks Hongo Office Building, adjacent to the Hongo Water Supply Station, as part of the 100th anniversary commemoration project of the waterworks.
In terms of access, it is an 8-minute walk from Hongo-sanchome Station and Ochanomizu Station on the Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line, and Shin-Ochanomizu Station on the Chiyoda Line. 8 minutes walk from JR Ochanomizu Station and Suidobashi Station. It is also an 8-minute walk from Suidobashi Station on the Toei Mita Line and Hongo Sanchome Station on the Toei Oedo Line. As soon as you enter the entrance on the 1st floor, the receptionist will give you a leaflet to guide you through the museum and inform you that the tour begins on the 2nd floor.
Additionally, you can borrow free audio guidance that explains the exhibits in Japanese, English, Chinese, and Korean. This service is safe even for customers from overseas. When you go up to the second floor, what you will see in front of you are the water pipes that used to spread throughout the town of Edo. This is the real thing that was actually used in the Edo period. The exhibition theme on the second floor is the water supply equipment and systems of the Edo period.

A communal well installed in the town of Edo

The highlight of the exhibition on the second floor is a life-size reproduction of an Edo tenement house. Not only does it recreate the life in the tenement houses where craftsmen and townspeople lived at the time, but it also provides easy-to-understand explanations about the water provided by Kanda Josui and Tamagawa Josui. There is a large bucket on the left side of the image. It's not just a bucket. A wooden or bamboo water pipe runs beneath the ground, and is connected to a large tub. In fact, the wells found throughout the city of Edo were not wells that drew underground water. It was water from the waterworks that used water from the current Inokashira Park pond, Zenpukuji Pond, and Hamura in Tama. Residents of tenement houses collected water here and stored it in bottles at home for use.

Life in an Edo tenement house recreated

This is the view of the room from the entrance of the tenement house. There is a large bottle at the door. The water in the pail on the far right is transferred to a bottle. The kitchen is sandwiched between the bottle and the pail. The board under the ladle is a cutting board. Both samurai and townspeople paid usage fees for the Kanda Josui and Tamagawa Josui water. Samurai used to pay a certain amount of stone, while townspeople paid a certain amount depending on the floor plan of their house. It's hard to imagine now, but tap water was just water from ponds and rivers, without any purification.

Wooden gutter excavated at Marunouchi 3-chome

On the second floor, miniature models explain the workings of Edo Josui, including Kanda Josui and Tamagawa Josui. The Tamagawa Josui Story, told through animation and puppet shows, is easy to understand even for children, and shows how the Tamagawa brothers completed the long waterworks from Hamura in Tama to Yotsuya after all the hardships and efforts they went through. In addition, the actual display of wooden gutters that were excavated during the redevelopment of Marunouchi 3-chome is a sight to behold. The top of the gutter is a lid that can be removed in case any foreign objects get inside. By the way, six waterworks were built during the Edo period. These are Kanda Josui, Tamagawa Josui, Honjo Josui, Aoyama Josui, Mita Josui, and Senkawa Josui. In both cases, wooden gutters like this one were used. Until the end of the Edo period, only Kanda Josui and Tamagawa Josui were in use; the other four were abolished due to water shortages and maintenance costs.

Tokyo's world-class water supply

Water facilities that were actually used during the Meiji period

The first floor is an exhibition of the history of waterworks from the Meiji Restoration to the present day. The new Meiji government entrusted the management of Kanda Josui and Tamagawa Josui to Tokyo Prefecture, the predecessor of Tokyo Metropolitan Government. From this point on, water supply systems began to undergo major changes by adopting European water purification technology. You can experience the history and technology of Tokyo's water supply system, which started with the Yodobashi Water Purification Plant, which started running water in 1899, through actual objects, models, and videos.

Japan's largest water pipe

These are iron water pipes called cast iron pipes that are still in use today. It is truly gigantic compared to the water pipes of the Edo period. The exhibition clearly shows how the facility overcame various difficulties, such as damage to the water supply network during the Great Kanto Earthquake and the Pacific War, and countermeasures against Tokyo's growing water shortage, and how it became one of the world's best in scale and water quality. Masu.

Water leak detector

To the right of the center of the photo is the Water Supply Bureau's water leak detector. Notice the model of the person wearing headphones. This is actually the equipment used when checking for water pipe leaks. They use listening devices on the ground to find out if there are any places where water is leaking from the water pipes that are spread throughout Tokyo. The videos and interviews with veterans of this work are a must-see. You can see that it is a really difficult job to go to inspect areas with heavy traffic during the day when there is less traffic at night.

Let's go see the ruins of Kanda Josui

Kanda Josui stone gutter monument

There was a wooden gutter from Kanda Josui in the exhibition on the second floor, but water pipes are actually not just made of wood. A larger waterway made of stone, called Ishigui, was flowing like a river. From there, water was flowed to samurai residences, tenement houses, etc. using wooden gutters. The stone gutter is displayed outdoors. Moreover, it is a real thing from the Edo period, so it is a must-see. The location is Hongo Waterworks Park, which is adjacent to the Tokyo Waterworks Museum of History. It is located behind the monument.

Kanda Josui stone gutter restored and relocated

This is part of the Kanda Josui Ruins, which was excavated in the 1980s. It was relocated here and restored. When you look down, it just looks like a river. Now, let's look at it from a different perspective.

Cross section of a waterway made of stones

A cross section of the Kanda Josui stone gutter. You can clearly see that it is a water passage made of stones piled up like a stone wall.

How was it?

Admission to the Tokyo Metropolitan Waterworks History Museum is free. You can enjoy it with your children or as a social studies field trip for adults. After you finish your tour, if you fill out a questionnaire in the lounge, you'll receive a cute mascot character pin badge as a gift. Please give it a try.

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