The is a river which flows through 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 branches from the Arakawa River

Arakawa River

The is one of the principal rivers flowing through Tokyo, the capital city of Japan. The point of origin is on Mount Kobushi in Saitama Prefecture, and the Arakawa River empties into Tokyo Bay, spanning 173 kilometers. The drainage basin covers 2,940 square kilometers...

 at Iwabuchi and flows into Tokyo Bay

Tokyo 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...

. Its tributaries include the Kanda

Kanda River

The stretches 24.6 km from Inokashira Park in Mitaka to the Sumida River under the Ryōgoku Bridge at the boundary of Taitō, Chūō, and Sumida. Its entire length lies within Tokyo, Japan. It drains an area of 105.0 km². The government of Japan classifies it as a Class I river.-Tributaries...

 and Shakujii

Shakujii River

The is a river which flows throughthe northwest quadrant of central Tokyo, Japan.Its source is in the district of Hana-koganei-minami-chō, Kodaira City, nearthe Musashino Danchi...

 rivers.

What is now known as the "Sumida River" was previously the path of the Ara-kawa, however towards the end of the Meiji

Meiji period

The , also known as the Meiji era, is a Japanese era which extended from September 1868 through July 1912. This period represents the first half of the Empire of Japan.- Meiji Restoration and the emperor :...

 era work was carried out to divert the main flow of the Ara-kawa to prevent flooding.

It passes through the following wards of Tokyo:

• Kita
• Adachi
• Arakawa
  Arakawa, Tokyo
  is a special ward located in Tokyo, Japan. The ward takes its name from the river, the Arakawa, though the Arakawa River does not run through or touch the ward. Its neighbors are the wards of Adachi, Kita, Bunkyo, Taito and Sumida. In English, the ward calls itself Arakawa City.Arakawa has...
  
  
• 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...
  
  
• Taito
  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...
  
  
• Kōtō
  Koto, Tokyo
  is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, Japan. As of 2008, the ward has an estimated population of 442,271 and a population density of 11,070 persons per km². The total area is 39.48 km². The ward refers to itself as Kōtō City in English....
  
  
• 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...
  
  

Culture

The Noh

Noh

, or - derived from the Sino-Japanese word for "skill" or "talent" - is a major form of classical Japanese musical drama that has been performed since the 14th century. Many characters are masked, with men playing male and female roles. Traditionally, a Noh "performance day" lasts all day and...

play Sumida-gawa, which the British composer Benjamin Britten

Benjamin Britten

Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten, OM CH was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He showed talent from an early age, and first came to public attention with the a cappella choral work A Boy Was Born in 1934. With the premiere of his opera Peter Grimes in 1945, he leapt to...

 saw while visiting Japan in 1956, inspired him to compose Curlew River

Curlew River

Curlew River — A Parable for Church Performance is the first of three Church Parables by Benjamin Britten. The work is based on the Japanese noh play Sumidagawa of Juro Motomasa , which Britten saw during a visit to Japan and the Far East in early 1956...

(1964), a dramatic work based on the story.

The kabuki

Kabuki

is classical Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.The individual kanji characters, from left to right, mean sing , dance , and skill...

 play, Sumida-gawa — Gonichi no Omokage, is perhaps better known by the title Hokaibo, which is the name of the central character. This stage drama was written by Nakawa Shimesuke, and it was first produced in Osaka in 1784. The play continues to be included in kabuki repertoire in Japan; and it is also performed in the West. It was recreated by the Heisei Nakamura-za in the Lincoln Center Festival in New York in the summer of 2007, with Nakamura Kanzaburō XVIII leading the cast.

Literature

The poet Matsuo Bashō

Matsuo Basho

, born , then , was the most famous poet of the Edo period in Japan. During his lifetime, Bashō was recognized for his works in the collaborative haikai no renga form; today, after centuries of commentary, he is recognized as a master of brief and clear haiku...

 lived by the Sumida River, alongside the famous banana tree (Japanese: bashō) from which he takes his nom de plume

Pen name

A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...

.

The Sumida River appears in a haiku by Issa from 1820:

spring peace--

a mouse licking up

Sumida River

Sumida bridges

The Sumida runs through Tokyo for 27 kilometers, under 26 bridges spaced at about one bridge per kilometer. Amongst these, the principal ones are:

• The Ryōgoku-bashi (Ryōgoku Bridge
  Ryōgoku Bridge
  The is a bridge in Tokyo built in 1659 spanning the Sumida River just upstream of its confluence with the Kanda River. Its name, meaning "two provinces," came from its joining Edo and Shimōsa Province. The neighborhood at the east end of the bridge, Ryōgoku, derived its name from that of the...
  
  ), dating from 1932, replaced a bridge built in 1659. This bridge was immortalized many times by Hiroshige
  Hiroshige
  was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist, and one of the last great artists in that tradition. He was also referred to as Andō Hiroshige and by the art name of Ichiyūsai Hiroshige ....
  
  .

• The Nihon-bashi or Nihon bridge, dating from the 17th century, was the bridge at which the Naksendō and Tōkaidō terminated (or the place from which they were said to have begun) during the Edo period. In those days, this bridge was called the Edo-bashi or Edo Bridge. (Nihon-bashi does not actually cross the Sumida River. It crosses the Nihonbashi River, about 1 kilometer west of the Sumida.)

• The Eitai-bashi(Eitai Bridge), dating from 1924, replaces a bridge built in 1696.

• The Senju Bridge, dating from 1921, replaced an earlier bridge initially constructed in 1594, which was for a long time the only bridge across the river.

• The Sakura Bridge, dating from 1985.--link to recent, digitized photograph of Sakurabashi

• The Kototoi Bridge, dating from 1928, was reconstructed at the location of the bridge which linked two nearby temples—the Mimeguri-Jinja and the Matsuchiyama-shoden.-- link to recent, digitized photograph of Kototoi Bridge

• The Azuma Bridge, dating from 1931, replaced the bridge which was first built in 1774. This bridge is closest to Asakusa Station
  Asakusa Station
  is a railway station in the Asakusa district of Taito, Tokyo, Japan.-Lines:* Tobu Isesaki Line* Toei Asakusa Line '* Tokyo Metro Ginza Line 'The Tsukuba Express Asakusa Station is located about 600 m to the west.-Tobu Railway:...
  
   and the Kaminari-Mon.-- link to digitized image of Meiji-era postcard featuring Azuma Bridge

• The Komagata Bridge, dating from 1927, takes its name from the Matsugata temple dedicated to Bato-Kanon.-- link to recent, digitized panorama photo of Komagata Bridge in foreground and Azuma bridge in background

• The Umaya Bridge, dating from 1929, replaced a bridge built in 1875.

• The Shin Ohashi (New Bridge
  New Bridge
  New Bridge may refer to:* New Bridge in Kosovska Mitrovica, Kosovo, Serbia* Nový Most, Bratislava, Slovakia*New Bridge Landing, New Jersey, USA*New Bridge Landing...
  
  ), dating from 1976, replaced a bridge built in 1693. This bridge was not far from the Ryōgoku Bridge. -- link to recent, digitized photograph of Shin Ohashi Bridge

• The Kiyosu Bridge, dating from 1938, links Kiyosu with Nihonbashi-Nakasu.

• The Chuo Bridge, dating from 1994, is the most recently built of the bridges across the Sumida. See photo here

• The Tsukuda Bridge, dating from 1964, was the first bridge built after World War II
  World War II
  World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
  
  , crossing the river from Tsukiji
  Tsukiji
  Tsukiji is a district of Chūō, Tokyo, Japan, the site of the Tsukiji fish market. Literally meaning "reclaimed land," it lies near the Sumida River on land reclaimed from Tokyo Bay in the 18th century, during the Edo period....
  
   to Tsukishima
  Tsukishima
  Tsukishima is a place located in Chūō, Tokyo, Japan. It is an island formed of reclaimed land completed in 1892, using earth from the dredging work performed to create a shipping channel in Tokyo Bay. At this time, it was designated an area for iron-working in accordance with the Fukoku Kyōhei...
  
  .

• The Kachidoki Bridge was constructed in 1940 for the commemoration of the victory of the Japanese army at Lushun during the Russo-Japanese War
  Russo-Japanese War
  The Russo-Japanese War was "the first great war of the 20th century." It grew out of rival imperial ambitions of the Russian Empire and Japanese Empire over Manchuria and Korea...
  
  . This bridge is the only drawbridge on the Sumida, and has not been raised since 1970.-- link to recent, digitized photograph of Kachidoki Bridge

External links

• National Archives of Japan ...Click link for photograph of re-built Ryogoku bridge (1875)
• National Archives of Japan ...Click link for photograph of re-built Azumabashi Bridge (June 1876)
• New York Public Library Digital Gallery ...Color woodcut print of "Pleasure boating on the Sumida River", c. 1788-1790