A waterway runs beside a downhill street. If you look into it, you'll find small clamshells. Clams can only live in clean water. Nowadays, they say no waterway in Japan has clams.
If we look back on the road we’ve walked so far, the water runs along the gentle curve of the downward hill. Water from the Kanda River first flows through the nearby houses in the area and the garden of Zōzan Shrine. People loved this lifestyle of being surrounded by water and would wash their faces and dishes in the stream. Since it is a shared resource, the people of Matsushiro tried to use it as mindfully and as cleanly as possible. By doing so, they fostered a sense of sharing.
People’s lifestyles are changing the way water is consumed. Yet, the people of Matsushiro are keen on maintaining this harmonious relationship with its water. That wish protects the Izumi Suiro waterway. Matsushiro is the only place that has a spring channel of this size. The freshwater here symbolizes the innocence of the Matsushiro people and their love of the everlasting riverfront.
The water that flows from here to the moat of the Matsushiro Castle is still just as pure when it reaches its destination.
