Fushimi-ko Port (伏見港)
Fushimi-ko was a port categorized as a river port that once existed in Fushimi Ward, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture. Until around 1950 it was a flourishing port that linked Kyoto and Osaka through water transportation. (WGS 84).
Summary
In the Azuchi-Momoyama period, Hideyoshi TOYOTOMI led river improvement projects on the Yodo-gawa River including building Taiko-zutsumi Dike and ports which linked the Uji-gawa River and the Go-kawa (Hori-kawa) River, and Sanjukkoku-bune (literally, thirty-koku Ships, which were old Japanese commercial ships) operated between Fushimi and Osaka.
In the Edo period, Ryoi SUMINOKURA and his son Soan SUMINOKURA made the Takase-gawa River wider, linking Fushimi and the center of Kyoto and improving transportation further. At Fushimi-ko Port, there was a tenmajo (post station) of the Bakufu (Tokugawa Shogunate), a honjin (hostel for government officials to stop and stay), and daimyo houses in which daimyo (samurai lords) stayed on their trips for Sankin Kotai (system of alternate attendance to Edo) duties. It is well known that Ryoma SAKAMOTO often stayed at Teradaya, an inn at the port, at the end of the Edo period.
In the Meiji period, the Lake Biwa Canal (Kamo-gawa Canal) was opened to traffic to connect Fushimi-ko Port, completing the water traffic system with operations of steamboats. Japan's first electric railcars, on the Kyoto Electric Railway (later Kyoto Municipal Streetcar), were established to connect Fushimi-ko Port and Kyoto City.
In 1929, Misu Lock Gate was built because the dikes of the Uji-gawa River were repaired to make a difference in water level between the Uji-gawa River and the Go-kawa River.
In the years after that, water transportation declined with the development of railways and road transportation, so in 1967, it was decided to abolish Fushimi-ko Port along with a new city plan that would reclaim land from the port for a park. Today, a miniature model of the old port facility is on display, and a sightseeing boat modeled after Jikkoku-bune (literally ten-koku boat, a type of old Japanese freight boat) operates around the area between the Go-kawa River and Misu Lock Gate along which walking trails are built.
In Fushimi Ward, placenames such as Kyobashi, Minamihama, Bentenhama, and Zaimoku-cho that are related to the port town still remain today.
Park
There is now a park on the former site of the port.
Fushimiko Park
Gymnasium
Tennis courts
Sumo arena
Swimming pool
Fushimi Minato Park
Miniature model of the port facility
Access
It is within walking distance from Chushojima Station on the Keihan Electric Railway.
From Takeda Station on the Kyoto City Subway Karasuma Line, or Daigo Station or Ishida Station on the Kyoto City Subway Tozai Line, take a bus and get off at 'Keihan Chushojima' or 'Chushojima' bus stop.