Kawachi Bay (河内湾) was a bay that existed millennia ago in modern
Osaka
is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...
city and surrounds. On its eastern border were the
Ikoma mountain range, and the west there was a peninsula where many (pre)historical settlements are found. Both the
Yodo River
The , also called the Seta River (瀬田川 ''Seta-gawa'') and the Uji River (宇治川 ''Uji-gawa'') at portions of its route, is the principal river in Osaka Prefecture on Honshu, Japan. The source of the river is Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefectur ...
on the northern periphery and the
Yamato River
The is a river that flows through Nara Prefecture and Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It is designated Classification of rivers in Japan, Class A by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT).
The river flows via towns:
*Nara ...
on the southern end emptied into it. The alluvium deposits created a sandbar today known as
Uemachi Plateau The Uemachi plateau (上町台地, うえまちだいち, Uemachi Daichi) is a plateau in Osaka City, Japan, that extends from the Osaka Castle and Tenmabashi area to Tennōji in the south.
History and formation
Based on post-war university st ...
. Eventually the bay was cut off from the ocean by the growing sand peninsula, turning it into a lake called Kawachi Lake (河内湖). Continual deposition in time filled the lake turning it swampy; some centuries later it became an alluvial plain on which most of
Osaka Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Osaka Prefecture has a population of 8,778,035 () and has a geographic area of . Osaka Prefecture borders Hyōgo Prefecture to the northwest, Kyoto Prefecture to the north, Nara ...
sits.
The word ''Kawachi'' refers to
Kawachi Province
was a Provinces of Japan, province of Japan in the eastern part of modern Osaka Prefecture. It originally held the southwestern area that was split off into Izumi Province. It was also known as .
Geography
The area was radically different in th ...
, which itself means ''inside the river''.
References
External links
Kawachi bay rendering (japanese)City gov produced history book cover showing map of Kawachi Lake (japanese)
Landforms of Osaka Prefecture
{{Osaka-geo-stub