The is a Class B river in

Kanagawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-densest at . Its geographic area of makes it fifth-smallest. Kana ...

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 north ...

. It is also called and . The mouth of the river is known unagi spawning.

Geography

The source of the Hikiji River is

Izumi no Mori is a park in Yamato, Kanagawa, Yamato, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The springs in the park are the source of the Hikiji River that flows into Sagami Bay. Access and facilities Izumi no Mori has up to 156 parking spaces for individual cars, depen ...

(literally "Forest of Springs"), a park located in near the center of the

Sagamino plateau The , also known as the or , is a wide plateau situated between the Tama Hills and the Sagami River in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Near its northern boundary with the city of Sagamihara is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city h ...

in the Kamisōyagi area of

Yamato was originally the area around today's Sakurai City in Nara Prefecture of Japan, which became Yamato Province and by extension a name for the whole of Japan. Yamato is also the dynastic name of the ruling Imperial House of Japan. Japanese his ...

. The park area was formed from the erosion of the diluvial plateau by the waters flowing south from the springs, forming a valley. It flows through the Inari neighborhood Shōnan dunes Fujisawa City and through Shōnan Kaigan Park in the Kugenuma-Kaigan neighborhood before emptying into Sagami Bay. The Hikiji River has an overall length of , a watershed of , and is classified as a Class B river. The watershed includes portions of six cities, including Fujisawa, Chigasaki, Yamato, Ebina, Zama, and

Ayase Ayase may refer to: Places *Ayase, Kanagawa, Japan *Ayase, an area in Adachi, Tokyo, Japan ** Ayase Station, train station in Adachi, Tokyo People *Ayase (music producer) (born 1994), Japanese vocaloid producer *, Japanese actress *, Japanese foot ...

. The of the upper reach of the river down to

Kanagawa Prefectural Route 45 Maruko Nakayama Chigasaki Route is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-densest at . Its geographic area of makes it fifth-smallest. Kanagaw ...

is considered a small, local river, and is under the management of the city of Yamato. From that point, it is considered a Class B river and under the management of Kanagawa Prefecture. Segments of the river were formerly called , , , , and other names. The main tributaries are the

Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

, Fudō,

Isshiki Isshiki (written: 一色) is a Japanese surname. Notable people with the surname include: *, Japanese manga artist *, Japanese actress *, Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' *, Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' Fictional characters: *Akane Isshiki, pr ...

, and Koito Rivers. The middle part of the river flows across the bottom of the valley where it is used for rice paddies and other agricultural purposes. In order to draw water from the river, the city of Yamato established the Wakamiya Intake, and the city of Fujisawa built the Chōgo Sluice, the Nakamura Sluice, and the Ishikawa Sluice. The river formerly meandered significantly where it exited the Shōnan Sand Dunes, changing location every time the river channel flooded. At the beginning of the

Shōwa period Shōwa may refer to: * Hirohito (1901–1989), the 124th Emperor of Japan, known posthumously as Emperor Shōwa * Showa Corporation, a Japanese suspension and shock manufacturer, affiliated with the Honda keiretsu Japanese eras * Jōwa (Heian ...

, the current river channel was created through manual labor. Because the coastal current in Sagami Bay flows east where the Hikiji River flows into the bay, maps created during the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

show a confluence with the Sakai River.

Features

The opened on May 6, 1983. On December 10, 1987, the former Ministry of Construction designated it a , and its popularity was enhanced with the construction of a dike and a man-made pond. The installation of municipal sewer systems and volunteer efforts to clean up garbage helped to noticeably improve the water quality along the river.

References

External links

*{{Commonscatinline, Hikiji River Rivers of Kanagawa Prefecture Geography of Kanagawa Prefecture Rivers of Japan