This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

45

The Kiso gawa likewise rises in Shinshiu. It flows westward down the valley of Kiso, being joined by several small streams of no great importance. Entering Mino at Ochiai, it shortly afterwards unites with the Hida gawa, which rises in the north of the province of Hida. At the point where it intersects the Nakasendô it is called the Ôta gawa, after a town on its right bank. From Inuyama it forms the boundary between Mino and Owari. Near this town, and at several points further on, it throws off branches which traverse Owari, and fall into the sea. On the right it is joined by the Sunomata gawa which drains the western part of Mino, and shortly before reaching its mouth near Kuwana splits into several branches. The Tenriu gawa flows out of the Lake of Suwa in Shinano, runs past the town of Iida almost parallel to the Kiso gawa, and traversing the province of Tôtômi falls at last into the Tenriu nada. It has no tributaries of any importance.

The Oi gawa rises in the south-west of Kai and traverses the province of Tôtômi, intersecting the Tôkaidô between Kanaya and Shimada. It is more remarkable for the breadth of its bed, which near the mouth is 21/2 miles wide, and for the swiftness of its current, than for the length of its course.

The Fuji kawa rises in the north of Kai on the group of mountains called Yatsu-ga-také, and receives several tributaries of varying volume. During the lower part of its course it traverses the centre of Suruga. It is famous for being one of the swiftest streams in all Japan.

The Sakata gawa rises in the range of mountains which separates Uzen from Rikuzen, and flowing due west between the departments of Mogami and Akumi on the north and Murayama and Tagawa on the south, enters the Sea of Japan at Sakata.

The Abukuma gawa rises near the town of Shirakawa in Iwaki, flows northwards close to the eastern boundary of Iwashiro, passing not far from the towns of Miharu, Nihommatsu, Fukushima and Shiraishi, traverses the upper end of Iwaki, and then, making a turn to the right,