安芸長束ー三滝 Aki-Nagatsuka to Mitaki

安芸長束ー三滝 Aki-Nagatsuka to Mitaki

Attention please. The next stop is Akinanguka. Thank you. [Music] Hello and welcome back to another video. This is Aki Nagatska station on the cab line and this is actually where one of my favorite walks in Hiroshima city begins. Now, as you can see, it’s a beautiful day. So, um, as soon as this train’s gone, let’s go and take the walk. Come along with me. So, today’s walk is a river walk. And from Aki Nagatska station to begin with, it’s about a 5-minute walk to the river itself, which is here. Okay. Okay, so this is the river itself and on a day like today it’s absolutely glorious. So the river is called the Otagawa Porsiro or the Otagawa Otto River spillway and as its name suggests it was built as a way of controlling floods in the center of Hiroshima city. Construction started in 1932, but it was then suspended during World War II. It resumed after the war had finished and construction was finished finally in 1967. The floodway was constructed by widening a river that existed in this area before the Yamade River. And now this river, the Horsiro is the main channel of the Otto River as it flows through Hiroshima city. In fact, the former main channel was Hong Kawa, which is the river that flows very close to the atomic bomb dome. The river that flows right in front of the dome is called Motoasu River. But then right next to that is Enkawa. So when there were floods which in the past there were relatively regularly there was the potential at least for huge damage in the center of the city. The whole channel is about 9 km long. And in fact just there it says R5. Now, I’m pretty sure that means it’s 5 kilometers from the mouth of the river. These flood control gates really give me nightmares if I’m being honest. Am I the only person who feels like that? I’m sure I can’t be. Anyway, a little bit more about the history. In the 1920s, there were seven major rivers in Hiroshima, which of course is built on a river delta. And let me just check my notes. Um starting from the west of the city and heading towards the east, the rivers were the Yamate River which became this river. Then the Fukushima River, the Tenma River, the Hong Kawa River, um the Motoa River, the Kybashi River, and finally the Enkor River. However, all of these streams, rivers, rivers, um, basically are branches of the Otagawa, the Ota River, which flows from way up in the mountains north of Hiroshima. Now this means that uh if there are heavy rains up in the north of Hiroshima in the Chugoka mountains then there is a huge amount of water flowing down the river towards Hiroshima which being on a delta is basically low-level low-lying land and in the past there were, as I said earlier, fairly regular floods. Let me check my notes again and I can tell you the dates of some of those significant floods. So heading way back into history, there were particularly severe floods in 1654, 1796, 1859, 1886, 1919, and 1928. Now only a few years after that, the construction of this floodway began. And I think there’s probably quite a strong link between the incidence of those floods and the need for this spillway. Certainly moving into the 19th century and the 20th century when Hiroshima city was becoming more and more important both in terms of the military but also in terms of learning. So, Hiroshima University, for example, is quite a major university in Japan. [Music] Obviously, on a day like today, the river is placid and calm. And it’s a beautiful place to be. But if you look at both sides of the river and I obviously I can only show you one side but just here there is a big flat area which is effectively a flood plane. So, as I said, there were seven, well, there still are six or five maybe rivers in the center of Hiroshima. But if the Otterawa floods, all of those rivers, all seven of those rivers couldn’t deal with the amount of water, hence the building of this spillway. As you can see, it’s very wide and it’s designed, I think, to deal with 4,500 cubic meters a second of water. Now, I don’t know how much that is, but it sounds a lot. The most recent major flooding in Hiroshima was 20 years ago now, back in 2005. And thanks very much to the influence of this spillway, there was basically no damage in the center of Hiroshima or at least very minor damage. So pretty obviously this spillway floodway works. Obviously, floods are relatively infrequent. And so, when the river is in a state like it is today, beautiful and placid, these banks are a great place to play sports, have a picnic. Many people actually day camp by the uh the river. It’s actually something I’d like to do myself. I think I need to buy a tent first to do that, but um it’s certainly something I’d like to try. Anyway, let’s walk a little further on. One of the great things about this walk is that there’s basically no one around. You get the occasional jogger, the occasional cyclist, and again, as I say, some people having a picnic or playing sports by the river, but generally you’re on your own, and it’s great. It’s only a kilometer and a half, maybe 2 km from the center of Hiroshima City, but um yeah, fair enough. You can hear cars, you can hear the railway, but you can also hear crickets, cicadas in the summer. And now um at the very beginning of autumn, today is August the 31st, you can hear the uh sizes, which I don’t know the name for in English, but they’re sort of an autumal version of cicadas, I think. And they chirp is very soft and well sort of autuminal really. It’s a beautiful sound. So, we’re about halfway along the walk now. By the way, I’m walking to Mitaki station today, which is the next station back towards Hiroshima after aki Nagata station. And anyway, there’s this river which is flowing into the horse. Um, you can just see the the main river just there. Now, I suppose this could be the Koi River. I’m not sure. I can’t find it in detail on any maps, and the old map I have to refer to is not detailed enough to for me to be sure that this is the Koi River. But it could be one of the I’m not I’m not going to say lost rivers because it’s not like it’s in a tunnel or anything, but this could be one of the rivers that was modified to uh enable the Horsery Roar to be built. If you know what this river is, then please do leave a comment and let me know. If it’s not the Koi River, I would be interested to know what the river is called because I really cannot find a name for it anywhere. [Music] So, we’re coming up to Mitaki Station soon. Um, the railway is basically on the embankment to the right of the path. Um, you may have heard trains passing as I’ve been speaking. Anyway, as I say, it’s about 2 km, 1 and a half km this walk. So, it’s not strenuous and especially because it’s completely flat. It’s more of a stroll than a walk. But nevertheless, it’s a nice way to uh spend a little bit of time in an afternoon. So, I can thoroughly recommend it. Maybe I should just mention that although I’m walking along the path by the side of the embankment, you can actually walk right by the river’s edge. There is a path, but it’s a very narrow one. And there’s a slope down to the river. Now, I don’t think the river is particularly deep, but I still don’t want to slip down a path into it, which is why I’m walking on this wider path away from the river. The other thing is I am a little bit wary of ticks. And as you can see, there’s a lot of quite tall grass between me and the river. And well, I would prefer not to get a tick bite to be completely honest. So, um, today I’m walking along this path. But if you’re not worried about ticks or if you’re not here in tick season or if you’re up for a little bit of adventure, you can walk right by the river. And of course, it’s much more beautiful than this bit. This sign might be a little bit difficult to see on this camera, but um because of the grasses I mentioned earlier, I can’t really get any closer. So anyway, what it says is that the river was built to protect Hiroshima city from flooding and it was constructed between uh Shawa 7 and Shawa 36 which is 1932 and 1961. Um, and it was built by altering the courses of the Fukushima River and the Yamate River to make them into one single channel. So that’s a little bit different to the information I found earlier. Interesting. So maybe the river I saw a little while back isn’t actually the Koi River, which is the Yamate River, if I remember correctly. They there are two names to this river. Um, so I’m going to have to research a little bit more, but it doesn’t alter the the fundamental fact. This river was built to protect Hiroshima from flooding. basically. Okay, here we are at R4, so 4 kilometers from the mouth of the river. By the way, the R is the right hand side of the river flowing downstream. And the only reason I know that or I assume that is because on the other side of the river there is the same marking but L4. So the left hand bank from here it might be a little bit difficult to see but um you can possibly just see the overhead wires for the railway. So Mitaki station is just there. So another stream or flood drainage system or something here running into the main river. I’m not even going to guess at what this river is called. It may not even have a name, in fact. So, if I go up those steps, I can head back to Mitaki Station and finish the video. But, it’s a bit too nice to catch the uh the train just yet. So, I’m going to head down to the riverbank. Now, I know from past experience that this little bit of the riverbank has a wider path and therefore a wider place to sit for 30 minutes or so. So, let’s go and do that. There might be a better place to sit, but there’s still a heck of a lot of grass to wade through to get there. Anyway, let’s give it a try. I just have to hope I don’t get any ticks on my legs. All right, this looks like a fairly good place. So, I’m going to sit here and have 30 minutes or so relaxing by the river. I’ve just checked my legs for ticks. And as far as I can see, there aren’t any. So, hopefully I’m safe. If I don’t see you again in another video, though, you’ll know what the problem was. Either that or I’ve fallen in the river. One or the other. I don’t know. Anyway, I’m hopefully going to sit and relax here without falling in and drowning. Oh, yes. Just one thing. You didn’t think I could have a whole video without any train content at all, did you? Well, um, if you did, you’re wrong. So, um, this is the bridge where the cab line crosses the Otagawa. And, um, there are trains every 20 minutes. And the trains pass at Mitaki station because most of the line is a single track. So, um, hopefully we’ll see two trains fairly soon. And actually, if you can hear a train now, that’s because the Sanor main line and the Sor Shinkansen bridges are just down there. Anyway, I can hear the um level crossing alarm. So, here’s a train now, I’m guessing. [Music] [Music] And here’s the train in the other direction heading towards Hiroshima. [Music] So, I said earlier that the riverbank was a great place and a popular place to have a picnic. Well, I don’t have a picnic as such, but I do have a donut and I have a drink. So, I’m going to have a mini picnic right now. It would be rude not to really. By the way, these new Mr. Donuts donuts are really good. [Music] [Music] Okay. Okay, so that’s been a fairly pleasant um 30 minutes or so by the river just to finish off this little stroll. I shouldn’t forget the donut either. That was a really good donut. Anyway, it’s been nice to um just sit and watch the waves lapping gently against the rocks at the side of the river. It’s been nice to watch the fish jumping in the river. I don’t know what fish they were, but they were certainly very lively. It’s even been quite nice to listen to the person practicing their guitar over the on the other side of the river. Although, if I’m being completely honest, I think I would have to say they need a little bit more practice. Anyway, I think it’s about time to uh head back to the station and head back to Sai now. So, in other words, it’s time for me to finish this video. So, I hope you enjoyed this little stroll along the Otto River from Aki Nagatskad to Mitaki. It’s a fairly easy walk, but it’s a very relaxing walk and it’s great to see a more sort of peaceful side of Hiroshima. It’s a walk I do myself quite often. But if you’re in Hiroshima and you’re looking for something a little bit more peaceful, a little bit more off thebeaten track, shall we say, I can certainly recommend it. Please do leave a comment if you’ve done the walk or if you’re planning to do the walk. Let me know what you thought. Anyway, thank you again for watching and as I say, I hope you enjoyed it and I hope to see you again in another video very soon. For now though, from Mitaki and from the Auto River, goodbye. [Music]

Take a peaceful, relaxing stroll between Aki-Nagatsuka and Mitaki stations along the Otagawa River. Learn a little about the history of the river as you enjoy the scenery. A great way to spend a couple of hours if you’re in Hiroshima and looking to do something a little bit more relaxing. On a fine day, the river is really quite stunning.

If you enjoy virtual walks, nature sounds, or discovering places off the beaten path in Japan, this video is perfect for you. Sit back, relax, and walk with me as we explore another side of Hiroshima.

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