The Abe River (安倍川, Abe-kawa, also Abe-gawa?) is a river in Shizuoka Prefecture of central Japan. It is 53.3 kilometres (33.1 mi) long and has a watershed of 567 square kilometres (219 sq mi).
The river rises from Akaishi Mountains which stretch over the border between Yamanashi and Shizuoka Prefectures, and flows into Suruga Bay in the Pacific Ocean). It is known for its clear stream and forms part of the main water supply for Shizuoka city.
There are many hot springs at the river head, which is also known for its numerous landslides and for the Abe Great Falls, one of Japan's Top 100 Waterfalls. Unlike the nearby Tenryū River and Ōi River are no dams on the Abe River.
Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu carried out extensive construction and formed the present route of the lower course of the river. Abekawamochi (安倍川餅?), a mochi rice cake dusted with soybean flour has been a local speciality of this area since at least the Edo period.
Famous quotes containing the words abe and/or river:
“This state is full of these log cabin Abe Lincolns with price tags on ‘em. The louder he yells, the higher his price.”
—Robert Rossen (1908–1966)
“There are knives that glitter like altars
In a dark church
Where they bring the cripple and the imbecile
To be healed.
There’s a woden block where bones are broken,
Scraped clean—a river dried to its bed”
—Charles Simic (b. 1938)