page_title: Kuji River
hierarchical_section_title: Kuji River
caption_attribution_description: English: Kuji river, Hitachi-Omiya City, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. 日本語: 久慈川（茨城県常陸大宮市）
context_page_description: Kuji River is a river in Fukushima Prefecture, Tochigi Prefecture and Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. It rises at the northern slope of Mount Yamizo, where the border of these three prefectures is located, and flows into Pacific Ocean at Hitachi and Tokai in Ibaraki Prefecture. It has a length of 124 kilometers and a drainage area of 1,490 square kilometers, and is designated as a Class A river.
  The name of Kuji is thought to have been named after whale. Hitachi no kuni fudoki, one of the existent Fudoki, says, "There were a hill that resembled a whale. Then the emperor named the land Kuji." The river is known for ayu fishing, and in 2006 it had the second largest catch of ayu in Japan after Naka River, which is also located in Ibaraki Prefecture. The fishing weir for tourists is installed along the river in Daigo. Famous Fukuroda Falls are located on Taki River, which is one of its tributary rivers. On midwinter a phenomenon called shiga can be observed in the river. Shiga is a phenomenon in which frazil ice that is generated at the bottom floats on the surface.
context_section_description: Kuji River (Japanese: 久慈川（くじがわ）, Hepburn: Kuji-gawa) is a river in Fukushima Prefecture, Tochigi Prefecture and Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. It rises at the northern slope of Mount Yamizo, where the border of these three prefectures is located, and flows into Pacific Ocean at Hitachi and Tokai in Ibaraki Prefecture. It has a length of 124 kilometers (77 mi) and a drainage area of 1,490 square kilometers (580 sq mi), and is designated as a Class A river.
  The name of Kuji is thought to have been named after whale (kujira in Japanese). Hitachi no kuni fudoki, one of the existent Fudoki, says, "There were a hill that resembled a whale (kujira). Then the emperor named the land Kuji."  The river is known for ayu fishing, and in 2006 it had the second largest catch of ayu in Japan after Naka River, which is also located in Ibaraki Prefecture. The fishing weir (梁 yana) for tourists is installed along the river in Daigo. Famous Fukuroda Falls are located on Taki River (滝川 Takigawa), which is one of its tributary rivers. On midwinter a phenomenon called shiga can be observed in the river. Shiga is a phenomenon in which frazil ice that is generated at the bottom floats on the surface.  Distribution of freshwater fish like salvelinus and masu salmon captured in Fukushima Prefecture had been restricted after Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, though in Kuji River the restricion was gradually removed.
caption: Kuji River in Hitachiomiya (April 2017)
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