The is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

Hokkaidō prefecture is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

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 72.5 km in length and has drainage area of 894.7 km². It is a tributary of the

Ishikari River The , at long, is the third longest in Japan and the longest in Hokkaidō. The river drains an area of , making it the second largest in Japan, with a total discharge of around per year. It originates from Mount Ishikari in the Daisetsuzan V ...

. It supplies water to

Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous city ...

city, the capital of Hokkaidō built on the

alluvial fan An alluvial fan is an accumulation of sediments that fans outwards from a concentrated source of sediments, such as a narrow canyon emerging from an escarpment. They are characteristic of mountainous terrain in arid to semiarid climates, but a ...

formed by the river. Jōzankei is a popular attraction with

onsen In Japan, are the country's hot springs and the bathing facilities and traditional inns around them. As a volcanically active country, Japan has many onsens scattered throughout all of its major islands. There are approximately 25,000 hot ...

(hot springs) along the upper Toyohira.

Course

From the mountain Oizaridake, the Toyohira River flows northwards into . The created the lake. The river runs through the gorge. After exiting the gorge it is joined by several more rivers before turning East. Two smaller dams block the course of the Toyohira as it moves into the suburbs of Sapporo. The river flows north and east through the middle of the Toyohira Ward of Sapporo. As it leaves the urban area it forms the border between Sapporo and Ebetsu before emptying into the Ishikari River.

History

The Ainu knew this river as ''Sapporo Pet'' (Sapporo River). ''Toyopira'' was originally the name of a crossing point of the Sapporo River. Until the 19th century, the lower course of the Sapporo River had been the same as the Fushiko River of today, emptying into the Ishikari River directly to the north. After a flood, the river made a new course to the east. The Ainu called the remains of this old lower course of the Sapporo River ''Fushiko Sapporo'' or ''Old Sapporo''. When the Japanese colonized the area, they used Ainu place names. They named the new capital city after the river ''Sapporo'' and named the Sapporo River (''Sapporo Pet'') after the crossing point ''Toyohira''. The old lower course of the ''Fushiko Sapporo'' was named . The Toyohira Bridge was built at the crossing point named ''Toyopira'' by the Ainu.

Tributaries

* Anano River *

Makomanai River is a tributary of the Toyohira River in Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan. It has a length of and has a watershed of . Flowing from in the mountains, the Makomanai River's upper course is called , too. Its middle course flows through a narrow valle ...

References

{{Authority control Rivers of Hokkaido Rivers of Japan