Water has nourished Japanese culture. It means that some water is very unique to the certain area, and numerous art and crafts heavily depends on the character of water which is only available to the area. The range of the genre is so wide that it is from Japanese Sake, handmade paper, Tea Ceremony, Japanese cuisine such as Sushi and Tofu, to art craft such as Japanese sword. Those cannot be made without the water which is unique to the place.
To be more precise, the water makes the differences in tastes and colors of rice, flower, and vegetables, for example, and the differences become the character of the outcomes.
Handmade paper of Echizen, Sake of Nada, flowers in Toyama, to name some. Kaiseki cuisine of Kyoto; very refined traditional course meal, also is heavily influenced by the water they use.
Moreover, water itself is a part of culture of the places. Kumamoto city of Kumamoto, Matsue city of Shimane, and Hiraizumi city of Iwate, for example. Those places are known for their natural water, and their culture and everyday lives are so close to the water.
As a reasonable thing to do, people have closely studied the water they have, and know the characters well, so that they can imitate the way of life as water has shown to them. That leads to the result of making the best out of the water as they have, and in return, the water has nurture people’s lives.
It will not be affected by the changes of time because it is an essential quality of the water. Therefore, we have to place an importance on the water for it has a universal value to our livings.
