When Hidetsugu TOYOTOMI built Yawata-jo Castle during the Azuchi-Momoyama Period, the canal was built as part of development of a castle town to serve both the military function of castle defense and the commercial function of water transport in the Lake Biwa area (as a logistics center during the period).
安土桃山時代に豊臣秀次が八幡城を築城した際、城下町の都市計画として整備され、城を防御する軍事的な役割と琵琶湖の水運（当時の物流の要）を利用する商業的役割を兼ね備えた。