Financial woes keep Kyoto covered with power lines

Power lines spread like cobwebs along Chawan-zaka street, which leads to Kiyomizu Temple in Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto. (Credit: The Yomiuri Shimbun)

KYOTO -- Kyoto authorities are dedicated to preserving its elegant townscape, but efforts to move power lines underground have stalled due to financial problems.

A project to put power lines underground along 24 routes -- over a combined distance of 10.1 kilometers and at a cost of about 9 billion yen -- has been shelved, with no prospects for the work to start. Given the snail's pace of such activities in Kyoto, compared to other major cities, people connected with the tourist industry are wondering when things will get moving.