(27) River embankments and floodplains 堤防と氾濫原

One of the most distinctive aspects of Tokyo’s urban landscape are the miles of raised levees and embankments that protect the city from Tokyo’s largest rivers. These features can bee seen on the following rivers (and perhaps others I haven’t mentioned)”

• Tamagawa
• Arakawa
• Edogawa

A note on terminology:

• 堤防 = levee / dyke / embankment / ていぼう = teibō
• 氾濫原 = floodplain / はんらんげん = hanrangen (Japanese Wikipedia)

The tops of the embankments are often paved and are popular with cyclists. At the base of the banks are often wide grassy areas used for activities such as baseball, soccer, kite flying, general recreation, and golf courses. Some examples:

(1) The top of the embankment on the Saitama side of the Arakawa River:

Nearby: the Toda Rowing course:

(2) Top of the embankment along the Edogawa river (Saitama side)

Near this point, the Edogawa can be crossed via Yagiri-no-watashi ferry 矢切の渡し, the only remaining ferry in Tokyo. It costs 200 yen for a 1-way trip,

(3) Across the Edogawa in Tokyo: baseball in Shibamata Park 柴又公園

(4) A child runs across the top of an embankment along the Arakawa River:

(5) The Tamagawa flood plain seen from Futako-Tamagawa station:

One Twitter user shared a particularly good before-and-after of the Tamagawa river during and after a flood (source):

Another example (source):

(6) A baseball game on the Tokyo side of the Tamagawa river

The relatively new high-rises of Musashi-Kosugi loom in the background.

See also:

• Subsidence: a view of a zero-meter zone 海抜ゼロメートル地帯 on the banks of the Arakawa River (Twitter)
• Widening and embankment of rivers (Kajima): 河川の拡幅・築堤
• Arakawa river cycling routes / courses
• MLIT
• Article: Computer-generated images of the impact of massive flooding on the Arakawa including a submerged Ginza
• Flooding on the Tamagawa river, seen from the train (Twitter)
• Splashing around Tokyo’s water infrastructure