Fishing Sweetfish in a Major Urban Center

Sendai, major urban center of 1,000,000 inhabitants *(SEIREISHITEITOSHI) holds as its proud symbol, Hirosegawa-River, which covers a distance of 45km within the city, and flows through Taihaku, Aoba and Wakabayashi wards.

At the beginning of 1960s, the center of the city benefited from a natural pool of crystal clear water, but the 1970s saw an increase in pollution that almost caused the disappearance of Sweetfish ‘Ayu’ and the ‘Kajika Frog’. As a result of the implementation of laws to protect the river and the establishment of a citizen’s watchdog body, Ayu are now swimming in the river.

In a major urban area, it is uncommon to find a river running through it, and it is equally unusual to find that such a city is the habitat to more than 120 species of birds. Within close proximity of the river, live the Brown-eared Bulbul, and other species of the same family, the Great Spotted woodpecker, and other kinds found in forests as well, the kingfisher, the Japanese pied wagtail (native of Japan), and many other kinds of birds that enjoy clean water. In any season, it is possible to observe 15 to 30 different kinds of birds at one time.

*SEIREISHITEITOSHI = a city of 500,000 or more granted special rights by government ordinance