Kuma River (Japan)

32°30′00″N 130°34′00″E / 32.5°N 130.5666667°E / 32.5; 130.5666667

Kuma River
Kuma River
Location of mouth
Nickname(s)	Abaregawa (raging river)
Native name	球磨川 (Japanese) Kumagawa (Japanese)
Location
Country	Japan
Prefecture	Kumamoto
Physical characteristics
Length	115km
Basin size	1880km²

The Kuma River (球磨川, Kuma-gawa) is a river in Kumamoto Prefecture, central Western part of Kyūshū, Japan. It is sometimes referred as Kumagawa River. It is the longest river in Kyushu, with the length of 115 km long and has a drainage area of 1,880 km² (730 sq mi). The river's estuary was designated part of Japan's 500 Important Wetlands.^[1]

It is considered to be one of the three most rapid rivers of Japan (the other two being the Mogami River and the Fuji River). The Kuma River is classified as class A river, under the management of the Japanese government.^[2]

The Kuma River is a popular tourist spot; about 70,000 people visit every year. Tourists are attracted to Ayu fish or sweetfish which inhabits at the Kuma river and some of its tributaries, where many people especially enjoy “shaku-ayu”. The river is also used for fishing, mainly in June, and for irrigation of nearby rice fields. It then empties into the Yatsushiro Sea at Yatsushiro.

The Kuma river is also known in relation to the Arase dam due to its removal project being the first dam removal in not only Japan but the whole of Asia.^[3] In 2020, the flooding of the Kuma River was a major incident in which a number of people from nearby areas were killed or seriously injured.