(Redirected from Chikuma River)
View from the air
The 'Shinano River' (信濃川 ''Shinanogawa'') is a river which flows from
Nagano Prefecture to
Niigata Prefecture in
Japan. It is 367km long (longest in Japan) and has 11,900 km² watershed (third largest in Japan). It is called the 'Chikuma River' (千曲川 ''Chikumagawa'') in Nagano Prefecture.
The river rises from
Mount Kobushi on the border of
Saitama,
Yamanashi and
Nagano, and flows to the northwest and meets the Sai River from
Matsumoto. Kawanakajima (川中島), the junction of the Chikuma and the Sai, is the historic site where the
Battles of Kawanakajima broke out. It turns to the northeast and falls into the
Sea of Japan at
Niigata City.
In
1922, the Ōkōzu Canal (大河津分水路 ''Ōkōzu Bunsuiro'') was built to defend Niigata from floods. It enabled the Niigata Plains to be filled with rich
rice fields.
External link
★
Shinano River Work Office