The is a river

River

A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...

 in Yamanashi

Yamanashi Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of the island of Honshū. The capital is the city of Kōfu.-Pre-history to the 14th century:People have been living in the Yamanashi area for about 30,000 years...

 and Shizuoka Prefecture

Shizuoka Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region on Honshu island. The capital is the city of Shizuoka.- History :Shizuoka prefecture was formed from the former Tōtōmi, Suruga and Izu provinces.The area was the home of the first Tokugawa Shogun...

s of central 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 128 kilometres (79.5 mi) long and has a watershed

Drainage basin

A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...

 of 3990 square kilometres (1,540.5 sq mi). With the Mogami River

Mogami River

The is a river in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan. 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 ....

 and the Kuma River

Kuma River (Japan)

is a river in Kumamoto Prefecture, Kyūshū, Japan. It is 115 km long and has a drainage area of 1,880 km².It is considered to be one of the three most rapid rivers of Japan ....

, it is regarded as one of the three most rapid flows of Japan.

The river arises from Mount Nokogiri

Mount Nokogiri (Akaishi)

is a mountain located in the Akaishi Mountains on the border between, Yamanashi and Nagano Prefectures in Japan.- Outline :This area is in Minami Alps National Park that was established on June 1, 1964. This mountain is also one of the "200 Famous Japanese Mountains". There is no general mountain...

 in the Akaishi Mountains

Akaishi Mountains

is a mountain range in central Honshū, Japan, bordering Nagano, Yamanashi and Shizuoka prefectures. It is also called the , as it joins with the Hida Mountains and the Kiso Mountains to form the Japanese Alps....

 in northwest Yamanashi as the , and meets the Fuefuki River at the town of Ichikawamisato

Ichikawamisato, Yamanashi

is a town located in Nishiyatsushiro District, Yamanashi, Japan.It is located south of Minami-Alps and Chūō, east and north of Minamikoma District, and west of Kōfu....

. There it changes its name to the Fuji River. It then flows around the west foot of Mount Fuji

Mount Fuji

is the highest mountain in Japan at . An active stratovolcano that last erupted in 1707–08, Mount Fuji lies about south-west of Tokyo, and can be seen from there on a clear day. Mount Fuji's exceptionally symmetrical cone is a well-known symbol of Japan and it is frequently depicted in art and...

 and into Suruga Bay

Suruga Bay

Suruga Bay is a bay on the Pacific coast of Honshū in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It is situated north of an imaginary line joining Omaezaki Point and Irōzaki Point at the tip of the Izu Peninsula and surrounded by Honshū to the southwest and west and the Izu Peninsula to the east.-Geology:Suruga...

 at its mouth in the city of Fuji

Fuji, Shizuoka

is a city in eastern Shizuoka Prefecture. Fuji is the 3rd largest city in terms of population in Shizuoka Prefecture, trailing Hamamatsu and Shizuoka. As of February 2010, the city has an estimated population of 254,113 and a population density of 1040 persons per km²...

.

The banks of the Fuji River was the location of the Battle of Fujikawa in 1180, one of the most important early battles of the Gempei War. The Sengoku period

Sengoku period

The or Warring States period in Japanese history was a time of social upheaval, political intrigue, and nearly constant military conflict that lasted roughly from the middle of the 15th century to the beginning of the 17th century. The name "Sengoku" was adopted by Japanese historians in reference...

 warlord Takeda Shingen

Takeda Shingen

, of Kai Province, was a preeminent daimyo in feudal Japan with exceptional military prestige in the late stage of the Sengoku period.-Name:Shingen was called "Tarō" or "Katsuchiyo" during his childhood...

 built extensive dikes along the Kamanashi portion of the river, which allowed water to flood buffer zones to control damage. These dikes still exist, and are called the . Flood control efforts continued under the Tokugawa Shogunate

Tokugawa shogunate

The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the and the , was a feudal regime of Japan established by Tokugawa Ieyasu and ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. This period is known as the Edo period and gets its name from the capital city, Edo, which is now called Tokyo, after the name was...

 of the Edo period

Edo period

The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....

, when extensive dikes were completed in 1674 after 50 years of construction, to divert the lower river away from populated areas, which were prone to flooding.

Water transportation up the river from Suruga Bay to inland Kai Province

Kai Province

, also known as , is an old province in Japan in the area of Yamanashi Prefecture. It lies in central Honshū, west of Tokyo, in a landlocked mountainous region that includes Mount Fuji along its border with Shizuoka Prefecture....

 prospered in the Edo period and early Meiji period

Meiji period

The , also known as the Meiji era, is a Japanese era which extended from September 1868 through July 1912. This period represents the first half of the Empire of Japan.- Meiji Restoration and the emperor :...

, until the opening of the Tōkaidō Main Line

Tokaido Main Line

The is the busiest trunk line of the Japan Railways Group , connecting Tōkyō and Kōbe stations. It is long, not counting its many freight feeder lines around the major cities...

, Chūō Main Line

Chuo Main Line

The , commonly called the Chūō Line, is one of the major trunk railway lines in Japan. It runs between Tokyo and Nagoya, although it is the slowest direct railway connection between the two cities; the coastal Tōkaidō Main Line is slightly faster, while the Tōkaidō Shinkansen is the fastest rail...

 and Fuji Minobu Railway railways. Commercial river transport ceased in 1923.

There are numerous dams for hydroelectric power generation and flood control along the various tributaries in the upper reaches of the river. The Fuji River also marks the divide of Japan’s electrical grid, with the utility frequency

Utility frequency

The utility frequency, line frequency or mains frequency is the frequency at which alternating current is transmitted from a power plant to the end-user. In most parts of the world this is 50 Hz, although in the Americas it is typically 60 Hz...

 of 50 hertz

Hertz

The hertz is the SI unit of frequency defined as the number of cycles per second of a periodic phenomenon. One of its most common uses is the description of the sine wave, particularly those used in radio and audio applications....

 to the east, and 60 hertz to the west.

The view of the Tōkaidō Shinkansen train crossing the river against the background of Mount Fuji is a celebrated scene representative of Japan.