Thank you for visiting the Tokomizu Town website. I am Chōichirō Hida, the 12th Warden of Ukisu.
The Warden of Ukisu is the equivalent of a mayor. The post began at the time of the Great Rising: there was no government office above the land, so the heads of the towns and villages met and chose one. Even today the Warden is chosen by the Council, where the water heads of the eight towns and the heads of some forty villages meet.
The Tokomizu Town Office does two things. It distributes water, and it runs the duty rotas, starting with field duty. Clinics and firefighting are looked after by each town and village. There is no town tax.
Every one of the 808 canals in the town is cared for by someone every day: the households who write the tally boards, the sluice keepers who open and close the sluices, the seam carpenters who mend the stone steps of the cliff road. This month's Tokomizu Town Bulletin features some of these people.
I will continue to serve, putting first the task of keeping the town's water clear and the lights in its homes bright.
The 12th Warden of Ukisu, Tokomizu Town
Chōichirō Hida