Shirakawa Canal
Ochaya on the Shirakawa River in Gion
Native name	白川 (Japanese)
Location
Country	Japan
Physical characteristics
Mouth
• location	Kamo River
Length	9.3 km (5.8 mi)
Basin size	13.1 km² (5.1 sq mi)
Basin features
River system	Yodo River

The Shirakawa River (白川, Shirakawa) is a river in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan. The river originates in the foothills of Mount Hiei on the outskirts of Kyoto, winds through the Geisha district of Gion, and eventually flows into the Kamo River.

Its name, which means "white river" in Japanese, probably refers to the white coloured sand and gravel that it carries from the hills east of Kyoto.

Many ochaya (geisha houses) and restaurants line the banks of the Shirakawa as it passes through the geisha district of Gion, in Kyoto.

Shirakawa-suna

Most Japanese rock gardens in Kyoto have historically used gravel as one of their design elements. Sourced from the upper reaches of the Shirakawa River it is known as Shirakawa-suna, (白川砂利, "Shirakawa-sand") despite the individual pieces being much bigger than the grains of what is regarded as normal suna (sand). The individual pieces vary from 2 mm to up to even 30 to 50 mm in size.^[1]

This type of muted black-speckled granite which is known for its rather muted colour palette is a mix of three main minerals, white feldspar, grey quartz, and black mica which matches the aesthetic for most Japanese rock gardens. Shirakawa-suna also has an eroded texture that alternates between jagged and smooth and is prized for its ability to hold raked grooves, with patterns lasting weeks unless weather, animals or humans intervene.

As of 2018 in Kyoto alone there are 341 areas spread over 166 temples covering a surface area of over 29,000 m² which have used Shirakawa-suna.^[2] Gravel is used in the entrance, main garden, and corridor area and takes four forms, spread gravel, gravel terrace, gravel pile, and garden path. Among the gardens which used Shirakawa-suna have been Ryōan-ji and Daitoku-ji.^[3]

Since the late 1950s the river has been a protected waterway and extraction of gravel from the river has been illegal.^[1] Over time the gravel in a garden becomes weather-beaten and becomes finer, forcing gardeners to occasionally replenish it in order for the gravel to retain the patterns made in them.^[3] Since the banning of extraction from the Shirakawa River the gravel used for both maintenance of existing gardens and the creation of new ones is sourced from quarried mountain granite of similar composition that is crushed and sieved.^[1] However the process of manufacturing creates rounded particles of the same size, lacking the pattern holding characteristics of true Shirakawa-suna, which have corners and are not uniform in size.^[3]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Kawaguchi, Yoko (2014). Japanese Zen Gardens. London: Francis Lincoln. p. 198. ISBN 978-0-7112-3447-5.
^ Zhang, Pingxing; Fukamachi, Katsue; Shibata, Shozo; Amasaki, Hiromasa (2015). "The Use and Maintenance of Shirakawa-suna in Temples of Kyoto City". Journal of the Japanese Institute of Landscape Architecture (in Japanese). Tokyo: Japanese Institute of Landscape Architecture. 78 (5): 497–500. doi:10.5632/jila.78.497.
^ ^a ^b ^c Morimoto, Yukihiro (2007). "Kyoto as a garden city – A landscape ecological perception of Japanese garden design". In Hong, Sun-Kee; Nakagoshi, Nobukazu; Fu, Bojie; Morimoto, Yukihiro (eds.). Landscape Ecological Applications in Man-Influenced Areas: Linking Man and Nature Systems. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer. p. 377. doi:10.1007/1-4020-5488-2_22. ISBN 9781402054884.

River systems and rivers of Japan

Rivers of Hokkaido

Sea of Japan	Ishikari River Chitose River Toyohira River Makomanai River Anano River Yūbari River Koetoi River Rumoi River Shiribeshi-Toshibetsu River Shiribetsu River Teshio River Zenibako River
Sea of Okhotsk	Abashiri River Shibetsu River Shokotsu River Tokoro River Yūbetsu River
Pacific Ocean	Akan River Kushiro River Mitsuishi River Mu River Niikappu River Saru River Shizunai River Tokachi River
Rivers of Hokkaido on Commons

Rivers of Honshu

Tōhoku region	Abukuma River Arakawa River Iwaki River Kitakami River Komagome River Koyoshi River Mabechi River Mogami River Natori River Ōhata River Oirase River Omono River Yoneshiro River
Kantō region	Arakawa River Edo River Fuji River Kanda River Kuji River Naka River Sagami River Sumida River Tama River Tone River Tsurumi River
Chūbu region	Agano River Shinano River Seki River Hime River Kurobe River Jōganji River Jinzū River Shō River Oyabe River Tedori River Kuzuryū River Fuji River Abe River Ōi River Sakawa River Tenryū River Toyo River Yahagi River Shōnai River Kiso Three Rivers Kiso River Nagara River Ibi River Kushida River Miya River Kita River Minami River
Kansai region	Choshi River Ibo River Kako River Kinokawa River Kumano River Kuzuryu River Maruyama River Muko River Yamato River Yodo River Yasu River Katsura River Kamo River Kizu River Dōton River Yura River
Chūgoku region	Asahi River Ashida River Gōnokawa River Hino River Hii River Ōta River Oze River Saba River Sendai River Takahashi River Takatsu River Tenjin River Yoshii River

Rivers of Shikoku

Aibiki River
Shimanto River
Shinmachi River
- Suketō River
- Tamiya River
- Sako River
- Sumiyoshijima River
Yoshino River
- Dōzan River

Rivers of Kyushu

Kyushu	Arie River Chikugo River Kikuchi River Kuma River Mimi River Ōno River Ōyodo River
Yaeyama Islands	Kokuba River Nakama River Urauchi River

Rivers of Japan Category
Rivers of Japan on Commons