Mogami River

Mogami River (Mogami-gawa)
最上川
River
Country	Japan
State	Yamagata
Source	Mount Azuma
Mouth	Sea of Japan
- elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Length	229 km (142 mi)
Basin	7,040 km2 (2,718 sq mi)
Discharge
- average	392 m3/s (13,843 cu ft/s)

The Mogami River (最上川, Mogami-gawa) is a river in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan.

Description & History

It is 224 km long and has a watershed of 7,040 km². It is regarded as one of the three most rapid rivers of Japan (along with the Fuji River and the Kuma River).

The river rises from southern Yamagata Prefecture and flows to the north, and turns west at Shinjō and flows into the Sea of Japan at Sakata. Water transportation once flourished on the river and carried local products such as safflowers and rice to the Kansai region.

Cultural references

The noted 15th-century Japanese poet Matsuo Bashō wrote several hokku during his travels along the Mogami River,^[1] revised into a well-known haiku in the memoir of his journeys:

五月雨をあつめて早し最上川

samidare o atsumete hayashi Mogami-gawa

gathering the rains

of the wet season — swift

the Mogami River

(trans. Shirane)

In the style of these hokku, the character Yukko Aioi from the anime adaptation of Nichijou uses the name of the river, out of context, to terminate internal poetic monologues.^[2]

Mogami-gawa is also the name of the anthem of Yamagata Prefecture written by Emperor Hirohito. The Japanese Navy had two different cruisers named Mogami.

Images

External links

38°55′23″N 139°48′32″E / 38.92316°N 139.808806°E / 38.92316; 139.808806Coordinates: 38°55′23″N 139°48′32″E / 38.92316°N 139.808806°E / 38.92316; 139.808806 (mouth)

1. ↑ Shirane, Haruo (1998). Traces of Dreams: Landscape, Cultural Memory, and the Poetry of Bashō. Stanford University Press. pp. 170–173. ISBN 0804730997. 
2. ↑ "Manga: Nichijou". TV Tropes. 2012-11-29. Retrieved 2012-12-10.