Shinano River

Japanese: 信濃川 - しなのがわ

It is the largest river in Japan, flowing from eastern Nagano Prefecture into Niigata Prefecture, through the center of the prefecture, and emptying into the Sea of Japan at Niigata City. It is a first-class river. Its source is near Mount Kobushigatake (2,475 meters) in the Kanto Mountains, and becomes the Chikuma River. It joins the Sai River, the largest tributary in the Nagano Basin, and enters Niigata Prefecture from the Iiyama Basin to become the Shinano River. Its length is 367 kilometers (the longest in Japan), and its drainage area is 11,900 square kilometers (the third largest). The coast is the area with the heaviest snowfall in the country, and is rich in meltwater. Upstream on the Nagano-Niigata border, the three major tributaries, the Shikumi River, the Nakatsu River, and the Kiyotsu River, form deep gorges. The development of high terraces is remarkable, and there are many large hydroelectric power plants, such as the TEPCO Shikawatari and JR Senju power plants, that utilize the terrace cliff height. This geosynclinal valley is called the Tokamachi Basin, and is home to Tokamachi City, a producer of high-quality silk fabrics known as the "Nishijin of the East." At the mouth of the valley, which runs through the Higashiyama Mountains and flows into the plains, it merges with a tributary of the Uono River to form an incised meander, and on the terrace surface is Ojiya City, which forms the valley mouth of the Uonuma Sangun district. The valley of the Uono River, which collects water from the Mikuni and Echigo Mountains and flows north, is called the Muikamachi Basin, and is the route through which the JR Joetsu Line, National Route 17, Joetsu Shinkansen, and Kan'etsu Expressway, which are the main transportation routes to the Tokyo metropolitan area, pass, and there are many hot springs and ski resorts. Between Ojiya and Sanjo at the mouth of the valley, tributaries such as the Shibumi River, Kariyata River, and Igarashi River, which collect water from the hills on both sides and flow out, join together to form the Chuetsu Plain, centered on Nagaoka City, which became the production area of Echigo rice. The New Shinano River, which branches off from Okozu at the top of the state (now Okozu in Tsubame City) to the coast at Teradomari, is a new diversion completed during a long-term large-scale construction project from 1909 to 1923 (Meiji 42 to Taisho 12), and saved 50,000 hectares of rice paddies in the Kambara Plain from flood damage. The downstream area is the Shinano River delta, and is surrounded by the three rivers Higashikawa (main stream), Nakanokuchigawa, and Nishikawa, forming a lagoon-like island topography with marshes and lagoons such as Shiranejima, Yoroigatago, and Yokogoshijima, making it the center of rice-growing areas in the Kambara Plain. Blocked in front by the Kambara Sand Dunes, Niigata once shared its mouth with the Aganogawa, but with the Matsugasaki diversion in the early modern period and the Sekiya diversion after World War II, land reclamation projects were completed and the struggle for water came to an end, and Niigata Port is thriving as the largest river mouth port on the Japan Coast. The Shinano River is used for power generation, agricultural water, and drinking and industrial water resources, and is the great mother river of Echigo.

[Hisao Yamazaki]

Shinano River Boat Transport

In the early modern period, Niigata Port, which flourished as a port of call on the Nishimawari shipping route, relied on river boat transport on the Shinano River to collect and distribute inland goods. The Shinano River shipping network was called the "Nagaoka Funado." A "shipway" is a privileged shipping network in which stock associations affiliated with the Funakaisho have the right to transport waterways, and in Echigo, rivers that are free to use are called "○○ ships" to distinguish them. The Shinano River is mainly dominated by the Nagaoka Funado downstream, with Nakanokuchi Funado, Kambara Funado (Nishikawa River), and the Muikamachi Funado, Tokamachi Funado, Ojiya Funado, and Oguni Funado upstream forming arteries opposite the Tsugawa Funado on the Agano River. The cargo was rice for the castle on the downstream side, and salt, dried fish, salted fish, and daily necessities for merchants on the upstream side. In the Meiji era, river steamboats, which were rare in Japan, took over the transportation.

[Hisao Yamazaki]

"The Story of the Shinano River" edited by the Niigata Nippo Newspaper (1978, Niigata Nippo Jigyosha)" ▽ "The 100-Year History of the Shinano River" edited by the Hokuriku Regional Bureau of the Ministry of Construction (1979, Hokuriku Construction Kousaikai)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

長野県東部から新潟県に入り、県中央部を貫流して新潟市で日本海に注ぐ日本一の大河。一級河川。その源を関東山地の甲武信(こぶし)ヶ岳（2475メートル）付近に発し千曲川(ちくまがわ)となり、長野盆地で最大の支流犀川(さいがわ)を合流し、飯山盆地(いいやまぼんち)から新潟県に入って信濃川となる。その延長367キロメートル（日本第1位）、流域面積1万1900平方キロメートル（第3位）。沿岸は全国一の豪雪地で、融雪水が豊かである。上流の長野・新潟県境では志久見(しくみ)川、中津川、清津川の三大支流が深い峡谷をなす。高位段丘面の発達が顕著で、その段丘崖(がい)比高を利用した東電鹿渡(しかわたり)、JR千手(せんじゅ)発電所などの大水力発電所が多い。この地向斜谷は十日町盆地とよばれ、「東の西陣(にしじん)」とよばれる高級絹織物の産地十日町市がある。東山山地を貫いて平野に流れ出す谷口部では、魚野川の支流を合流して穿入蛇行(せんにゅうだこう)を描き、その段丘面には魚沼(うおぬま)三郡の谷口町をなす小千谷市(おぢやし)がある。三国・越後(えちご)山脈の水を集めて北流する魚野川の谷は六日町盆地とよばれ、首都圏との交通の主軸をなすJR上越線、国道17号、上越新幹線、関越自動車道の通り道をなし、温泉、スキー場が多くある。谷口の小千谷から三条の間では、両側の丘陵列の水を集めて流れ出す渋海川(しぶみがわ)、刈谷田(かりやた)川、五十嵐川(いからしがわ)などの支流をあわせて、長岡市を中心とする中越平野を形成し、越後米の産地となる。州頂の大河津(おおこうづ)（現、燕(つばめ)市大川津(おおかわづ)）から寺泊(てらどまり)の海岸に分流する新信濃川は、1909～1923年（明治42～大正12）の長期にわたる大工事で完成した新分水で、蒲原平野(かんばらへいや)5万ヘクタールの水田を洪水の災害から救った。この下流は信濃川三角州面で、東川（本流）、中ノ口川、西川の3川に囲まれた白根(しろね)島、鎧潟郷(よろいがたごう)、横越(よこごし)島などのラグーン（潟湖(せきこ)）沼沢地をもつ州島(すじま)地形を形成し、蒲原平野の米どころの中心をなす。前面は蒲原砂丘にはばまれて、かつては阿賀野川(あがのがわ)と河口をともにしていたが、近世の松ヶ崎分水、第二次世界大戦後の関屋(せきや)分水によって干拓事業も完成し、水との闘いも終わって、新潟港は日本海岸最大の河口港として繁栄している。信濃川は電源開発、農業用水、飲料・工業用水資源として利用され、越後の母なる大河である。

［山崎久雄］

信濃川の舟運

近世、西廻(にしまわり)航路の寄港地として栄えた新潟湊(みなと)は、内陸物資の集散を信濃川の河川舟運に頼っていた。その信濃川筋の通船網は「長岡船道(ふなどう)」とよばれていた。「船道」とは船会所に入る株仲間組織が水運権をもつ特権通漕網のことで、これに対する自由通漕河川を越後では「○○通船」とよんで区別していた。信濃川筋では下流の長岡船道を主軸に、中ノ口船道、蒲原船道（西川筋）と、上流筋の六日町船道、十日町船道、小千谷船道、小国(おぐに)船道などが阿賀野川筋の津川船道と相対して動脈をなしていた。積み荷は下りが御城米の川下げ請負で、上りは塩荷、相物(あいもの)（干魚、塩魚類）、日用雑貨の商人荷の相対稼(あいたいかせ)ぎであった。明治時代に入ると全国でも珍しい川蒸気船(かわじょうきせん)交通がこれにかわって活躍した。

［山崎久雄］

『新潟日報社編著『信濃川ものがたり』（1978・新潟日報事業社）』▽『建設省北陸地方局編『信濃川百年史』（1979・北陸建設弘済会）』

[参照項目] | 魚野川 | 刈谷田川 | 清津川 | 甲武信ヶ岳 | 犀川 | 渋海川 | 千曲川 | 中津川

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