The is a river in the Hokuriku region of

Honshu , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island se ...

, Japan. It is also called the Aga River or the Ōkawa River in

Fukushima may refer to: Japan * Fukushima Prefecture, Japanese prefecture ** Fukushima, Fukushima, capital city of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan ***Fukushima University, national university in Japan *** Fukushima Station (Fukushima) in Fukushima, Fukushim ...

. The source of the river is

Mount Arakai Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...

on the border of Fukushima and Tochigi. It flows to the north and meets the Nippashi River from

Lake Inawashiro is the fourth-largest lake in Japan, located in central Fukushima Prefecture, south of Mount Bandai. It is also known as the . The lake is located within the borders of Bandai-Asahi National Park. It is a surface area of , circumference of , dept ...

and the

Tadami River The is a major tributary of the Agano River in Japan. Its basin covers and its main stem is extensively regulated and developed for hydroelectric power. The river is located within Niigata, Gunma and Fukushima Prefectures. Dams Starting from ...

in the Aizu Basin, and then turns to the west and falls into the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, i ...

. The Agano River flows for 210 kilometers. It has a watershed area of 7,710 square kilometers.Archived
3 January 2020 In 1964–1965, a chemical factory at Kanose village in

Niigata Prefecture is a prefecture in the Chūbu region of Honshu of Japan. Niigata Prefecture has a population of 2,227,496 (1 July 2019) and is the fifth-largest prefecture of Japan by geographic area at . Niigata Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture and ...

released methylmercury into the river and caused

Niigata Minamata disease is a neurological syndrome caused by severe mercury poisoning. Identical in symptoms to the original outbreak of Minamata disease in Kumamoto Prefecture, the second outbreak in Niigata Prefecture was confirmed with the same name in 1965. The ...

. There are several hydroelectric power plants on the Agano River: * Inawashiro Power Plant (107.5 MW), constructed several steps in 1899–1940. It was the site of the Japan first high-voltage, long-range power transmission line. * Numazawanuma Power Plant (43.7 MW), constructed in 1952. It was the first

pumped-storage Pumped-storage hydroelectricity (PSH), or pumped hydroelectric energy storage (PHES), is a type of hydroelectric energy storage used by electric power systems for load balancing. The method stores energy in the form of gravitational potential ...

power plant in Japan. Agano River near Kitakata (3848211488).jpg, Agano River near Kitakata Agano River.jpg, Agano River in Kōnan-ku, Niigata, 5/5/2007

References

External links

* Rivers of Niigata Prefecture Rivers of Fukushima Prefecture Rivers of Japan {{Japan-river-stub