” The Sumida River (隅田川, Sumida-gawa) is a river which flows through Tokyo, Japan. It branches from the Arakawa River at Iwabuchi and flows into Tokyo Bay. Its tributaries include the Kanda and Shakujii rivers. What is now known as the “Sumida River” was previously the path of the Arakawa, however towards the end of the Meiji era work was carried out to divert the main flow of the Arakawa to prevent flooding. It passes through Kita, Adachi, Arakawa, Sumida, Taito, Koto and Chuo” (Wikipedia).
When some friends of mine and I first visited Tokyo in 2003, I’ve tried to convince them to visit the Sumida River as it’s one of the land marks in Tokyo, they were partially convinced about it. Then, the next day, we’ve arrived in Asakusa train station which is just next to Sumida River, I didn’t know how far it’s located away from the train station, so once we went out the station we kept walking ‘n’ walking for ages! Nothing appeared on the horizon yet, as I’ve mentioned earlier, they were just partially convinced about visiting it, so suddenly we’ve they’ve decided to forget about it and go back to whatever is left to visit/see in Tokyo. FOUR years later, in 2007, a friend of mine and I, have made it at the Sumida River at the right time and the right place, the station this time was just a couple of minutes away from the river, and the timing was just perfect for it, it was late March, you know what I mean! Cherry blossom, Sakura trees, were covering the streets of Sumida. It was crowded with public enjoying the weather, the scenery and the river at that delightful moment. What’s so special about Sumida River in addition to the Sakura trees, the bridges, it has many bridges passing over it and some are dedicated for trains, it’s wide and relaxing for sight. I remember how people there were so happy and joyful! Sumia River now means a beautiful moment for me!
