Arakawa River (Kantō) Arakawa River (Kantō) The is a long river that flows through Saitama Prefecture and Tokyo. It originates on Mount Kobushi in Saitama Prefecture, and empties into Tokyo Bay. It has a total catchment area of . The river is one of Tokyo's major sources of tap water, and together with the Tone River, accounts for around 80% of Tokyo's water supply. Attempts to control flooding of the Arakawa River have been made since the area that is now Tokyo became the de facto capital of Japan during the Edo period. Following a major flood in 1910 that damaged a large
Minoru Arakawa Minoru Arakawa Minoru Arakawa was born on 3 September 1946 in Kyoto, Japan, the second son of Waichiro Arakawa and Michi Ishihara. Waichiro was the manager of Arakawa Textiles, and was more concerned with maintaining positive relationships with suppliers and customers than growing the company. Michi was an artist, who spent afternoons in the family garden or her studio; her paintings were hung at their family home. Arakawa's family was wealthy; the total real estate of Arakawa's family combined was about one-fifth of the downtown district in Kyoto. Arakawa began studying at Kyoto University in 1964, taking general classes for