Inokashira Park
is a park which straddles Musashino and Mitaka in western Tokyo, Japan. Inokashira Pond (井の頭池) and the , established during the Edo period, are the primary sources of the Kanda River.
The land was given to Tokyo in 1913. On May 1, 19 ...
Sumida River
The is a river that flows through central Tokyo, Japan. It branches from the Arakawa River at Iwabuchi (in Kita-ku) and flows into Tokyo Bay. Its tributaries include the Kanda and Shakujii rivers.
It passes through the Kita, Adachi, Ara ...
under the Ryōgoku Bridge at the boundary of
Taitō
is a special ward located in Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. In English, it is known as Taitō City.
As of May 1, 2015, the ward has an estimated population of 186,276, and a population density of 18,420 persons per km2. The total area is . Thi ...
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...
,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
. It drains an area of 105.0 km². The government of Japan classifies it as a Class I river.
Tributaries and branches
The Zenpukuji, Momozono, and Myōshō-ji rivers are tributaries of the Kanda. The outer moat of the Imperial Palace is also a tributary. The Nihonbashi River is a distributary of the Kanda.
Kanda River Underground Diversion Channel
Construction began in the 1980s of a diversion tunnel which could temporarily store excess water which historically has been a big problem causing flooding to thousands of homes during powerful typhoons or torrential downpours. The Kanda River Underground Diversion Channel is actually one huge tunnel built under major roads. The plan is to construct a 4.5-km tunnel, 13 m wide tunnel 40 meters below street level. The first 2 km section was completed in 1997, and it can hold the runoff of 50 mm of rain falling in one hour. The reservoir has drawn water from the river on more than a dozen occasions since it opened, and the Kanda River has not flooded during that time. Plans call for the tunnel to be extended to
Tokyo Bay
is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan, and spans the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. The Tokyo Bay region is both the most populou ...
, literally creating a second, underground Kanda River.
Notable bridges and locations
*
Manseibashi
is a concrete single arch bridge across the Kanda River in Chiyoda, Tokyo
is a Special wards of Tokyo, special ward located in central Tokyo, Japan. It is known as Chiyoda City in English language, English.Hijiribashi
Other names
In the middle section of the length of the river, there is a 2.1 km section from the area near Toden Arakawa LineWaseda Station to near
Iidabashi Station
is a major interchange railway station which straddles Tokyo's Chiyoda, Shinjuku and Bunkyō wards. It was originally built as Iidamachi Station (albeit in a slightly different location), terminus of the then Kōbu Railway, precursor to toda ...
which was formerly called . The name of this section was changed to Kanda River in August 1970, consistent with the name of the rest of the river. Most other nearby place names nearby deriving from "Edogawa" had disappeared by 1966, but some remain, including
Edogawabashi Station
is a subway station in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan, operated by Tokyo Metro. Its station number is Y-12. The station opened on 30 October 1974.
Lines
Edogawabashi Station is served by the Tokyo Metro Yūrakuchō Line.
Station layout
The station, w ...
, the bridge after which the station was named, and in Bunkyo, Tokyo. Additionally, until the late
Meiji period
The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912.
The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...
, the banks of the river between and were considered to be one of the best
cherry
A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit).
Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour '' Prunus cerasus''. The n ...
blossom sites in Tokyo.
In popular culture
The folk group Kaguyahime released the song '' Kandagawa'' in 1973 and sold more than a million copies. Keiko Sekine (Takahashi) and
Masao Kusakari
is a Japanese actor and model.
Biography
Masao Kusakari was born in Fukuoka Prefecture to a Japanese mother and an American father, the latter who died in the Korean War. Considered stunningly good looking, his debut into the public eye began w ...
starred in a film based on the song.
Japanese pianist ''
Nobuyuki Tsujii
(also known as Nobu Tsujii) is a Japanese pianist and composer. He was born blind due to microphthalmia. Tsujii performs extensively, with a large number of conductors and orchestras, and has received critical acclaims as well as notices for hi ...
'' composed the music ''Whisper of the River'' to express his love for his father after the two took a walk along the Kanda River."【辻井伸行】挑戦し続ける鍵盤アーティスト！映画音楽" - ''
www.zakzak.co.jp''
The Kanda River is also featured prominently in the multimedia project
Kandagawa Jet Girls
is a multimedia project created by Kadokawa, Marvelous, and Egg Firm. An anime television series by TNK aired from October 2019 to January 2020. A racing game published by Marvelous and developed by its subsidiary Honey∞Parade Games was r ...
. It serves as the venue for all of the anime version's Jet Racing and VR training sequences as well as assorted other activities throughout the series.