Kamo River - Geographic Description

Geographic Description

The Kamo River has its source in the mountains in the area of Mount Sajikigatake, around the boundary of Kumogahata village and Keihoku village in the northern ward of Kyoto. Flowing into the Kyoto Basin from the city area called Kamigamo in the same northern ward of the city, from there it bends south-east and, around the spot known as Demachi in the Kamigyō (or "Upper Kyoto" ward), joins with the Takano River which flows down from the northeastern direction, and there changes direction to due south through Kyoto's Nakagyō ("Central") ward. In the vicinity of the Shijō Bridge at Shijō Street in the center of downtown Kyoto, the Shirakawa River joins with it. At its southern part, the Horikawa River and West Takase River join with it, and at Shimomukōjima-cho in the Shimotoba part of Fushimi Ward of Kyoto City, it joins with the Katsura River, to become a tributary of the Yodo River.

There is a theory that in former times the main stream of the Kamo River was along the Horikawa river about 1 km (1 mi). North of Misono Bridge, and when the Heian Capital (now Kyoto) was established, the river was diverted to its present route. According to historian Herbert E. Plutschow, "To allow a river to flow through and thereby divide a capital would have symbolized potential disunity of the nation. One of the first tasks, therefore, in laying out the new capital was to divert the rivers. The Kamo River once flowed through what is now Horikawa Street and met the Takano River south of their present confluence. Thus, large-scale works were required to prepare the land for the capital. The city was laid with its northernmost boundary at the present confluence of the Kamo and Takano rivers (just south of today's Imadegawa Street)."

The riverbanks where the Kamo River and Takano River join are known as the Tadasu River Banks (Jp., Tadasu-gawara 糺河原). At the triangular area of land here, there is the "River Confluence" shrine of Shimogamo Shrine, which leads into the forested area, Tadasu-no-mori.