Shimanto (river)

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Shimanto
Shimanto-gawa, Watarigawa
View of the river

View of the river

Data
location Shikoku Island , Japan
River system Shimanto
source Mount Irazu
muzzle Tosa Bay Coordinates: 32 ° 56 ′ 0 "  N , 132 ° 59 ′ 47"  E 32 ° 56 ′ 0 "  N , 132 ° 59 ′ 47"  E

length 196 km
Catchment area 2270 km²

The Shimanto ( Japanese 四万 十 川 , Shimanto-gawa , German: "Forty thousand and ten river") is the longest river on the Japanese island of Shikoku at 196 km and is also considered the most beautiful river in Japan. Until 1994 the river was officially called Watarigawa ( 渡 川 ), which was historically the name of the lower reaches, but was then changed to the more common Shimanto.

The Shimanto rises in the prefecture of Kōchi on Mount Irazu and flows into the Pacific in the Tosa Bay near the municipality of Shimanto . In contrast to other Japanese rivers, it is natural and flows completely freely into the sea, without being interrupted by artificial reservoirs. Since it flows through sparsely populated and industrially undeveloped areas, it is very clean and is also called the “last clear river of Japan” ( 日本 最後 の 清流 , Nihon saigo no seiryū ) in Japan .

While fishing (eel) and river algae harvesting used to be more important, today the river plays a greater role for leisure activities such as kayaking .

Web links

Commons : Shimanto  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b 日本 の 川 . 国土 交通 省 河川局 , accessed August 31, 2011 (Japanese).
  2. ↑ 四万 十 川 . In: 日本 大 百科全書 . Retrieved March 16, 2015 (Japanese).