★★★★★ 5.0
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Kuji Cylindrical Water Divider
This concrete circle is actually Japan's smartest problem-solver from 1941, and there's nothing else like it anywhere on Earth! You're standing at the Kuji Cylindrical Water Divider, where Japanese engineers invented something so clever that 84 years later, no other country has figured out how to copy it. Watch how water rushes up from the center and magically splits into exactly four equal streams... just like cutting a pizza into perfect slices, but with water! This amazing device ended centuries of angry farmer fights over who got how much water from the ancient Edo-period canal flowing beneath your feet. That gorgeous 90-year-old cherry tree right next to you? It was planted as a celebration when this water-splitting wonder finally brought peace to Kuji. Can you spot all four channels where the water escapes?
Did You Know?
- Built in 1941, the Kuji Cylindrical Water Divider (円筒分水, entō bunsui) is a rare and ingenious structure designed to fairly distribute water from the Nikaryousui Canal to multiple irrigation channels, with each channel’s size precisely calculated to match the area of farmland it serves—making it a fascinating early example of visualized fairness in resource management.
- Unlike typical weirs or sluices, the Kuji entō bunsui is a circular, tiered concrete cylinder where water flows over the top and spills evenly into radial channels—a design both functional and visually striking, blending utilitarian engineering with a kind of minimalist artistry rarely seen outside Japan.
- While the Kuji Cylindrical Water Divider is celebrated for its clever engineering, it’s also part of a local walking course that includes the historic Kuji Fudoson temple, offering families a chance to explore both technological heritage and spiritual sites in a single, child-friendly outing—plus, the site is a favorite among history buffs for its peaceful, almost meditative atmosphere and its role in preventing floods that once threatened local rice fields.