Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

and

Kanagawa Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Kanagawa Prefecture is the List of Japanese prefectures by population, second-most populous prefecture of Japan at 9,221,129 (1 April 2022) and third-dens ...

which flows into the Bay of Sagami of the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

The Sakai River

The Sakai River has with the length of 52.1 km and the basin size of 210.7 square km. It starts from Aihara-machi ( Japanese: 相原町),

Machida, Tokyo is a Cities of Japan, city located in West Tokyo, the western portion of the Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 428,851, and a population density of 6,000 persons per km2. The total area of the city was . Due to ...

, to Katase,

Fujisawa, Kanagawa is a Cities of Japan, city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 439,728 and a population density of 6300 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Fujisawa is in the south-central part of Kan ...

, near Enoshima Island. It is called "Sakai", meaning "border", because it flows on the border of the former provinces of Musashi and Sagami. As the Sakai River and its tributaries are prone to flooding (especially in spring and during the typhoon season), as a protection they were encased in concrete during the postwar period. The rivers continue to flood, but do not overflow their banks as frequently as in the past.

Aliases

The river often used to be called the Takakura River () because it flowed through

Kōza District, Kanagawa is a Districts of Japan, district located in central Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It currently consists of only one town, Samukawa. The entire cities of Chigasaki, Kanagawa, Chigasaki, Fujisawa, Kanagawa, Fujisawa, Yamato, Kanagawa, Yamato, Ayase ...

( Japanese: 高座郡), the Kun'yomi reading of the two "Kōza"

Kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are ...

characters being Takakura. Also, the short section of the river from the point where it is joined by the Kashio River to the mouth of the river is sometimes called the Katase River.

Recreation

There are walking and bicycle routes along the banks of the Sakai River, from

, to the river mouth in Fujisawa, Kanagawa.Sakai River Bicycle Route
/ref> Mooring of pleasure boats in the river is now prohibited.

Katase River

The is a segment of the Sakai River in

Shōnan is the name of a region along the coast of Sagami Bay in Kanagawa Prefecture, central Japan. Centered on Sagami River, about 60 kilometers southwest of Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and ...

, central

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, about 50 kilometers southwest of

. The Katase is an approximately 3-kilometer-long segment of the Sakai River from ( 川名), Fujisawa, where the Sakai River and Kashio River join, to a point at

Enoshima is a small offshore island, about in circumference, at the mouth of the Katase River which flows into the Sagami Bay of Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Administratively, Enoshima is part of the mainland city of Fujisawa, Kanagawa, Fujisawa, and is ...

Island, where the river flows into

Sagami Bay lies south of Kanagawa Prefecture in Honshu, central Japan, contained within the scope of the Miura Peninsula, in Kanagawa, to the east, the Izu Peninsula, in Shizuoka Prefecture, to the west, and the Shōnan coastline to the north, while the i ...

. The river's name comes from Fujisawa City's Katase area through which it flows, at the foot of Kataseyama ( 片瀬山), and goes under the Katase Bridge of Route 134, before it meets Sagami Bay beside Katase Fisheries Port.

References

External links

(mouth) {{Authority control Rivers of Tokyo Rivers of Kanagawa Prefecture Rivers of Japan