Uwayu Irrigation Canal

Built in the mid-1600s by village headman Kasamatsu Satayuu, this 3.2-kilometer canal was dug through mountainous terrain without modern surveying tools to bring water to what is now Aridagawa. The project opened new rice paddies including the Aragijima terraces, and supported the region's paper industry. For roughly 300 years, local residents collectively maintained the original clay-walled channel until a 1953 flood prompted a concrete replacement. The canal still runs along its original course today, irrigating about 13.5 hectares of farmland. In 2013 it was recognized as part of an Important Cultural Landscape designation, acknowledging its place in the history and identity of the area.