Agano River
Encyclopedia
Fukushima Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region on the island of Honshu. The capital is the city of Fukushima.-History:Until the Meiji Restoration, the area of Fukushima prefecture was known as Mutsu Province....
to Niigata Prefecture
Niigata Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Honshū on the coast of the Sea of Japan. The capital is the city of Niigata. The name "Niigata" literally means "new lagoon".- History :...
in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. It is called the Aga River or the Ōkawa River in Fukushima. It is 210km long with 7,710km² watershed.
The source of the river is Mount Arakai on the border of Fukushima and Tochigi
Tochigi Prefecture
is a prefecture located in the Kantō region on the island of Honshū, Japan. The capital is the city of Utsunomiya.Nikkō, whose ancient Shintō shrines and Buddhist temples UNESCO has recognized by naming them a World Heritage Site, is in this prefecture...
. It flows to the north and meets the Nippashi River from Lake Inawashiro
Lake Inawashiro
is the fourth-largest lake in Japan, located in the middle of Fukushima Prefecture, south of Mount Bandai. It is also known as the 'Sky Mirror Lake'. In winter swans migrate to the beaches of the lake and stay there until spring....
and the Tadami River
Tadami River
The is a major tributary of the Agano River in Japan. Its basin covers and its main stem is extensively regulated and developed for hydroelectric power...
in the Aizu
Aizu
is an area comprising the westernmost third of Fukushima Prefecture in Japan. The principal city of the area is Aizuwakamatsu.During the Edo period, Aizu was a feudal domain known as and part of Mutsu Province.-History:...
Basin, and then turns to the west and falls into the Sea of Japan
Sea of Japan
The Sea of Japan is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, between the Asian mainland, the Japanese archipelago and Sakhalin. It is bordered by Japan, North Korea, Russia and South Korea. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it has almost no tides due to its nearly complete enclosure from the Pacific...
. Its river mouth flow is the largest of any river in Japan.
In 1964, a chemical factory at Kanose village
Kanose, Niigata
was a town located in Higashikanbara District, Niigata, Japan.As of 2003, the town had an estimated population of 2,753 and a density of 10.68 persons per km²...
in Niigata Prefecture
Niigata Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Honshū on the coast of the Sea of Japan. The capital is the city of Niigata. The name "Niigata" literally means "new lagoon".- History :...
released methylmercury
Methylmercury
Methylmercury is an organometallic cation with the formula . It is a bioaccumulative environmental toxicant.-Structure:...
into the river and caused Niigata Minamata disease
Niigata Minamata disease
' is a neurological syndrome caused by severe mercury poisoning. Identical in symptoms to the original outbreak of Minamata disease in Kumamoto Prefecture, the second outbreak in Niigata Prefecture was confirmed with the same name in 1965...
.