毎年この季節になると、玉川上水縁を散策している。例年は新緑の間を森林浴しながら歩くのだが、今年は桜の満開の日に花見をかねて上水取り入れ口の一つである「羽村の堰」を訪ねてみた。多摩川から水を引き入れる取水口間際には、上水工事を指揮した「玉川兄弟」の銅像もあり、歴史をしのぶよすがとなっている。まだ枯れ草色の河原には沢山の人が出て、春の休日を楽しんでいた。桜の樹の下は足の踏み場もないほどぎっしりと花見の宴席ができ、飲めや歌えで賑やかだった。「羽村の堰」からは勢いよく上水へ水が流れ込み、私が子どもだった頃三鷹付近で見た「激流」を思い出させてくれる。江戸時代の優れた公共事業として有名な玉川上水（--承応2年［1653］四代将軍家綱の時代に江戸,四谷大木戸まで十里三十町-43Km-、玉川兄弟の指揮のもとに8ｶ月という脅威のスピードで造られた--大多摩地域観光案内より引用）とその水源の多摩川。関東地方の主要水系の一つを前に、東京という街についてあらためて思いをはせる。玉川上水緑道を「世界遺産に」という声もあるらしい。そんな晴れがましいことは結構だが、この緑豊かな岸辺をいつまでも守りたいと切望する。この度はJR青梅線「羽村駅」から羽村の堰へ出て、JR「福生」駅まで歩いた。

I've made it a custom to take a walk along Tamagawa Jousui in this season of a year. Usually I walk in the fresh green shade but this year I visited one of the intake-weirs in Hamura on a day when cherry blossom was in full bloom. Beside the weire is a statue of Tamagawa Brothers who supervised the construction of the waterway, reminding us of the history. On the riverside which is still coverd with dried-up grasses were a lot of people enjoying the sunny holiday. Under the cherry trees the land was occupied by people holding flower watching parities: they were enjoying themselves, eating, drinking, and singing. From the intake weire of Hamura, water taken in from River Tama was rushing into Tamagawa Waterway. I remembered the horrible toreent which I saw in Mitaka City when I was a child. Tamagawa Jousui Waterway is famous as a high quality public enterprise in Edo Era. They constructed the waterway as long as 43km from Hamura to Yotsuya in 8 months. Facing one of the main waterways running in Kanto Area, I start thinking of the history of Tokyo again. Some pelple claim that TamAlthough I don't necessarily think such a glory be attached to the waterway, I sincerely hope it will be preserved carefully for ever. This time I walked from JR Hamura Station, stopping at the intake weire and Tama River, to Fussa Station.