Sendai Plain

A general term for the main plains of Miyagi Prefecture. It is bordered by the Ou Mountains to the west, the Ichinoseki Hills to the north, the northern part of the Abukuma Highlands to the south, and the southern part of the Kitakami Highlands to the northeast, and faces Sendai Bay to the east. The area north of the Matsushima and Tomiya Hills, located almost in the center, is called the Senboku Plain, and the area south of the Sennan Plain. The Senboku Plain is an alluvial lowland in the middle and lower reaches of the Kitakami River, Hasama River, Eai River, and Naruse River, and is made up of the Nono Dake Hills, Omatsuzawa Hills, Asahiyama Hills, and Matsushima Hills, which are arranged in a circular pattern, and is divided into the Hasama River lowlands, the Osaki Plain, and the Shinai-numa lowlands. In particular, the Hasaka River, which flows south from the northwest, has a gentle gradient and frequent floods, which impede the drainage of tributaries and result in the formation of many marshes, including Izunuma and Naganuma. As a result, from the Sendai Domain period to the present day, river improvement work has been carried out in parallel with reclamation of the marshes, and dam construction has progressed upstream of each river, transforming the area into one of the leading rice paddy areas in the Tohoku region. Vegetables and fruit are grown on the beach ridges along the shores of Ishinomaki Bay, and industrialization is also progressing in the area behind Ishinomaki Industrial Port, which was built at the mouth of the Jogawa River.

The Sennan Plain collectively refers to the Sendai Plain in the narrow sense, which includes the alluvial plains of the Nanakita River, Natori River, and Abukuma River south of the Shichigahama Peninsula, and the coastal plain on the east side of the Watari Hills, as well as a group of small basins such as Kakuda, Shiroishi, Ogawara, Murata, Funaoka, and Tsukinoki. The Sendai Plain in the narrow sense is a rice paddy area, and vegetables and fruit are grown along the coastal beach ridges and natural levees. There are cities such as Sendai, Tagajyo, Natori, and Iwanuma, and factories are being built there, with many people commuting to Sendai. Each basin in Sennan has a central settlement of the same name, many of which originated as former castle towns or post towns.

[Norio Hasegawa]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

宮城県の主要平野部の総称。西は奥羽山脈、北は一関(いちのせき)丘陵、南は阿武隈(あぶくま)高地北部、北東部は北上(きたかみ)高地南部で境され、東部は仙台湾に面する。ほぼ中央部にある松島丘陵、富谷(とみや)丘陵以北を仙北平野(せんぽくへいや)、南を仙南平野(せんなんへいや)とよぶ。仙北平野は北上川、迫(はさま)川、江合(えあい)川、鳴瀬(なるせ)川の中・下流域の沖積低地で、篦岳(ののだけ)丘陵、大松沢(おおまつざわ)丘陵、旭山(あさひやま)丘陵、松島丘陵などが環状に配列し、迫川低地帯、大崎平野、品井沼(しないぬま)低地などに分断されている。とくに北西部から南流する迫川は勾配(こうばい)が緩やかで洪水の発生頻度が高く、支流の排水を妨げ、伊豆(いず)沼、長(なが)沼をはじめ多くの沼沢地を伴っていた。そのため仙台藩時代から現代に至るまで、河川の改修工事と並行して沼沢地の干拓が行われ、各河川の上流のダム建設も進み、一帯は東北地方有数の水田地帯に変貌(へんぼう)した。石巻湾(いしのまきわん)岸の浜堤(ひんてい)列では野菜や果実の生産が行われ、定川(じょうがわ)河口に建設された石巻工業港背後地の工業化も進んでいる。

　仙南平野は七(しち)ヶ浜半島から南の七北田(ななきた)川、名取(なとり)川、阿武隈川の沖積平野と亘理(わたり)丘陵東側の海岸平野を含む狭義の仙台平野と、角田(かくだ)、白石(しろいし)、大河原(おおがわら)、村田(むらた)、船岡(ふなおか)、槻木(つきのき)などの小盆地群とをあわせて総称する。狭義の仙台平野は水田地帯となり、沿岸の浜堤列や自然堤防では野菜や果実の生産が行われる。仙台、多賀城(たがじょう)、名取、岩沼などの都市があり、工場の立地が進み、仙台への通勤者も多い。仙南の各盆地にはそれぞれ同名の中心集落があり、旧城下町や宿場に起源をもつものが多い。

［長谷川典夫］

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