This is a water channel in Sawara city.  Sawara is known by the nick name "Koedo," or "Little Edo."  Edo is of course the old name for Tokyo.  Sawara is said to be one of the best places to see what city life was like in Edo Period Japan.  Many Edo Period buildings along this waterway have been preserved, and you can even enter the home of a wealthy citizen of the time.  

The Edo period was from 1603 to 1867.