Oiwa-Kaido Road (大岩街道)
Oiwa-kaido road is a toge-michi (a road passing over a ridge) connecting the Fushimi Inari-taisha Shrine, Momoyama hills and Mt. Oiwa. Oiwa-kaido road connects Yamashina Ward and Fushimi Ward on an east to west basis in Kyoto City.
Summary
Oiwa-kaido road was a route of Tokaido Gojunana-tsugi (57 stations in Tokaido Road) which directly led from Edo area to Osaka without passing through Kyoto, as a part of Otsu-kaido road (which currently is a Shiga prefectural road and the Otsu-Yodo Line which is Kyoto Prefectural Road No. 35) and, in addition, it is said that this road was part of a route for Hyakuya-gayoi (one-hundred-night visiting) of Fukakusa no Shosho.
The Tokaido Main Line (a railroad) ran in parallel with Oiwa-kaido road from 1879 to 1921 (and was abolished through a change in route). Currently, Meishin Highway runs in parallel to Oiwa-kaido road and sandwiches the site left by the Tokaido Main Line.
Environmental Issues
An area which consists of the Oiwa-kaido road in between Mt. Inari and Mt. Oiwa, had long been the subject of illegal industrial waste dumping and burning of fields which caused adverse effects on the environment, therefore, the Kyoto Municipal Government started carrying out inspections and taking action, etc., against such illegal actions actions in 1996 and, as a result, environmentaly harmful acts resulting in pollution of the environmental such as burning off of fields have now been substantially eliminated. However, illegal buildings still exist and, therefore, the 'Guidelines for Constructing Excellent Environment in Areas around Oiwa-kaido road' was created in 2006 and measures continue to be taken.