Kanda River
Encyclopedia
Inokashira Park
straddles Musashino and Mitaka in western Tokyo, Japan.Inokashira Pond and the , established during the Edo period, are the primary sources of the Kanda River....
in Mitaka
Mitaka, Tokyo
is a city located in Tokyo, Japan. As of 1 November 2010, the city has an estimated population of 176,737. The total area is 16.50 km² and is about 50 – 55 meters above sea level...
to the Sumida River
Sumida River
The is a river which flows through Tokyo, Japan. It branches from the Arakawa River at Iwabuchi and flows into Tokyo Bay. Its tributaries include the Kanda and Shakujii rivers....
under the Ryōgoku Bridge at the boundary of Taitō
Taito, Tokyo
is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. In English, it calls itself Taito City.As of April 1, 2011, the ward has an estimated population of 168,909, with 94,908 households, and a population density of 16,745.86 persons per km². The total area is 10.08 km².-History:The ward was founded...
, Chūō
Chuo, Tokyo
is one of the 23 special wards that form the heart of Tokyo, Japan. The ward refers to itself as Chūō City in English.Its Japanese name literally means "Central Ward," and it is historically the main commercial center of Tokyo, although Shinjuku has risen to challenge it since the end of World War II...
, and Sumida
Sumida, Tokyo
is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. It calls itself Sumida City in English.As of 2008, the ward has an estimated population of 240,296 and a density of 17,480 persons per km²...
. Its entire length lies within Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. It drains an area of 105.0 km². The government of Japan classifies it as a Class I river.
Tributaries and branches
The Zenpukuji, Momozono, and Myōshō-ji rivers are tributaries of the Kanda. The outer moat of the Imperial PalaceKokyo
is the main residence of the Emperor of Japan. It is a large park-like area located in the Chiyoda area of Tokyo close to Tokyo Station and contains several buildings including the main palace , the emperor left Kyoto Imperial Palace for Tokyo...
is also a tributary. The Nihonbashi River is a distributary of the Kanda.
The Kanda River Underground Diversion Channel
Construction began in the 1980s of a diversion tunnel which could temporarily store excess water which historically has been a big problem causing flooding to thousands of homes during powerful typhoons or torrential downpours. The Kanda River Underground Diversion Channel is actually one huge tunnel built under major roads. The plan is to construct a 4.5-km tunnel, 13 m wide tunnel 40 meters below street level. The first 2 km section was completed in 1997, and it can hold the runoff of 50 mm of rain falling in one hour. The reservoir has drawn water from the river on more than a dozen occasions since it opened, and the Kanda River has not flooded during that time. Plans call for the tunnel to be extended to Tokyo BayTokyo Bay
is a bay in the southern Kantō region of Japan. Its old name was .-Geography:Tokyo Bay is surrounded by the Bōsō Peninsula to the east and the Miura Peninsula to the west. In a narrow sense, Tokyo Bay is the area north of the straight line formed by the on the Miura Peninsula on one end and on...
, literally creating a second, underground Kanda River.
In popular culture
The folk group Kaguyahime released the song KandagawaKandagawa (song)
The folk group Kaguyahime released the song on September 20, 1973, named after the Kanda River . With lyrics by Makoto Kitajō and music by Kōsetsu Minami, the single was a remix of a tune released the previous July on the album Kaguyahime Third. It was arranged by Takasuke Kida. Minami sang the...
. Keiko Sekine
Keiko Takahashi
is a Japanese actress. Prior to marrying director Banmei Takahashi in 1982, she acted under the name . She appeared under that name in the 1981 Nikkatsu Roman Porno film Love Letter, a fictionalized account of the life of poet Mitsuharu Kaneko, which Nikkatsu hoped would appeal to both male and...
(Takahashi) and Masao Kusakari starred in a film based on the song.
Japanese pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii
Nobuyuki Tsujii
Nobuyuki Tsujii is a Japanese pianist and composer who shared the First Prize at the Thirteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2009 in a tie with co-winner Haochen Zhang of China.-Background:...
composed the music Whisper of the River to express his love for his father after the two took a walk along the Kanda River.