Living on the Water

Shin kawa
Some cities like Venice are known for their special location on the water. Tokyo is not known for it although it is located where many rivers lead to the Bay of Tokyo. Tokyo is high ranked in the Hall of Shame http://www.pps.org/.



What is the attitude of Japan towards rivers?
In a nutshell: it looks like Enemy of the State number 1.

Well, that is how the government deals wit hit. And therefore that is what it is. Contact between people and water is to be avoided at all times. This is where the Law of No Surprises shows clearly. Rivers are lively and agile things that cause changes in the landscape and that is not compatible with the Law of No Surprises. Therefore the grow or decrease of river banks has to be avoided. And concrete is the answer.



Up to high in het mountains banks are concreted over. All to reduce the risk of landslides to a minimum, even in completely uninhabited regions.

A result of this canalising frenzy is the increased flow of the rivers. The water meets less resistance of overgrowth, rocks and meandering and flows much quicker out of the mountains, whereas the risk of flooding in the lower regions of the country (where all the big cities are) increases considerably.

And so a new job is created for the Construction Industry. All kinds of dams have to help slow down the water to an acceptable speed.

Here in Takayama people are able to touch the water.

There is a dam that makes a pond with big gold fish.




Another sollution is to build a wall along the river in the lower cities like Tokyo. An eventual surplus of water cannot flood the city. Imagine what happens if the metro would flood...

Kanda gawa

Meguro gawa

...kawa dewa arimasen...

On some locations the quality of water in residential area is appreciated though. But make no mistake. This is not a river but a pond. With dykes!

Ara gawa
Construction industry has much power in Japan. Like the bureaucracy. Competition is rare. It means that all governmental construction orders are distributed among the Zaibatsu, cartels of huge construction companies like Mitsubishi, Kajima, Takenaka and Shimizu. Companies not in the scene don’t stand a chance and the big contractors can ask exorbitant prices for state orders. It is like what has become known as The Construction Fraud in the Netherlands.

An important motive in this structure is the principle of the Amakudari. 'Gifts form Heaven'. Early retired bureaucrats who work in the industry that is to be monitored by the government. Staff of the Ministry of Finance become bank director, staff of the Ministry of Construction go to the construction industry, retired policemen run the Pachinko parlours etcetera.

It goes without saying that this is tricky stuff when it comes to governmental control. The salaries in the second career are very high compared with the first (government) career. Civil servants therefore are very lenient in their first career as to have it made in the second career.

Sumida gawa

Back to the water. To justify all these civil engineering works Japan depicts an image of rivers being the most dangerous enemy. And it works. The rivers have become the back end of the city.

Shibuya gawa

We already saw that motorways are built on piles over the rivers. In NRC (a Dutch newspaper) of January 6th of this year, a Dutch reporter wrote enthusiastically on Tokyo being built on piles. And that the Expressway runs over those beautiful clean rivers and that the Tokyoites accept that fully...

And it would be worth the effort to ride a bike along the beautiful Nihonbashi (litt. Japan bridge (!)) river. No way we should not follow such a valuable advice. Below you can see the best part of it.

Nihonbashi gawa

Shibuya gawa
The best location to live on the water in our neighbourhood.

Shibuya gawa

The option to come close to the water is unique.

Along the water is a fence. Always. To avoid surprises.

Shibuya gawa
On the steps somebody is enjoying the view.


And this is how you live with the backside(!) of your house to the water, on Sumida river. Where we made the boat trip with Kitty. The neighbours live in the blocks on the other side of the river. Did anybody say: "River" ?


Oh yes, river. There is even a bench and a waste bin to enjoy the view on this bank. The two meter high wall is there to protect us from the water of the river. Directly behind the wall live the homeless. Read more about them in the posting below.