Mogami River
Template:Geobox The Mogami River (最上川, Mogami-gawa) is a river in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan.
Description & History
It is 224 km long and has a watershed of 7,040 km². It is regarded as one of the three most rapid rivers of Japan (along with the Fuji River and the Kuma River).
The river rises from southern Yamagata Prefecture and flows to the north, and turns west at Shinjō and flows into the Sea of Japan at Sakata. Water transportation once flourished on the river and carried local products such as safflowers and rice to the Kansai region.
Cultural references
The noted 15th-century Japanese poet Matsuo Bashō wrote several hokku during his travels along the Mogami River,[1] revised into a well-known haiku in the memoir of his journeys:
- 五月雨をあつめて早し最上川
- samidare o atsumete hayashi Mogami-gawa
- gathering the rains
- of the wet season — swift
- the Mogami River
- (trans. Shirane)
In the style of these hokku, the character Yukko Aioi from the anime adaptation of Nichijou uses the name of the river, out of context, to terminate internal poetic monologues.[2]
Mogami-gawa is also the name of the anthem of Yamagata Prefecture written by Emperor Hirohito. The Japanese Navy had two different cruisers named Mogami.
Images
External links
38°55′23″N 139°48′32″E / 38.92316°N 139.808806°E (mouth)
- ^ Shirane, Haruo (1998). Traces of Dreams: Landscape, Cultural Memory, and the Poetry of Bashō. Stanford University Press. pp. 170–173. ISBN 0804730997.
- ^ "Manga: Nichijou". TV Tropes. 2012-11-29. Retrieved 2012-12-10.
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