Kitakami River

The Kitakami River stretches over 250 kilometers from Iwate Prefecture to the Pacific at Ishinomaki, making it the largest river in Tohoku and the fourth largest in Japan. Historically it was a major goods transport route, and the reeds along its banks have been used for centuries to make traditional thatched roofs. The freshwater clams harvested here, called shijimi, appear in a local variant of miso soup. Every autumn, the river hosts a salmon run. The Kitakami-ohashi Bridge is where the Michinoku Coastal Trail crosses the river, offering a good vantage point over the water.