Fuji River

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The Fuji River (富士川, Fujikawa or Fujigawa) is a river which flows from Yamanashi Prefecture to Shizuoka Prefecture in Japan. It is 128 km long and has a drainage area of 3990 km². It is regarded as one of the three most rapid flows of Japan (the other two are the Mogami River and the Kuma River).

The river rises from Mount Nokogiri in northwest Yamanashi as the Kamanashi River, and meets the Fuefuki River at Ichikawamisato Town and changes its name into the Fuji River. Then it flows around the west foot of Mount Fuji and falls into Suruga Bay (or the Pacific Ocean) at Fuji City.

Daimyo Takeda Shingen built Shingen's banks (信玄堤, Shingen-zutsumi) along the Kamanashi, which allow water to flood buffer zones to control damage. Water transportation prospered until the opening of the Fuji Minobu Railway (now JR Central Minobu Line) in 1923. The river divides Japan by frequency of electricity (50 hertz in the east, and 60 in the west).

The Shinkansen train which crosses the river against the background of Mount Fuji is a celebrated scene representative of Japan.