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From Teradomari the road follows the beach to Niigata, but my way led inwards to the Shinanogawa through the cutting which the Japanese were in the act of making between the sea and that river. That the Japanese are not afraid of making large ground cuttings, the neighbourhood of Yokohama will show, but this Teradomari cut is the most remarkable one I have seen. It was originally undertaken to draw off part of the Shinanogawa water from Okodz (on the river) directly to the sea. The cutting has a length of more than five miles, of which about nearly two are in the hills; the highest hill to be cut through is 260 feet over the intruded water level. Generally the ground consisted of layers of scale clay, in the beginning very hard, but becoming soft after having been exposed for some time to the air. In many cases the layers of clay are separated by thin layers of sand. The works have since been stopped, as too much money would be necessary to complete them in such a manner that the canal would really prove useful to the river, which would only be the case at very high floods; in other eases it would do more harm than good to the river.
Okodz, the river-terminus of the canal, lies 151⁄2 ri from the mouth of the river at Niigata; it is a small village but has lately somewhat improved by the building of the canal.
Between Okodz and Niigata the Shinanogawa is enclosed between good embankments, which, with the exception of two or three places, leave no space between them and the river. At Okodz a small river, called Nishikawa, separates from the Shinanogawa to re-unite with it at Hesima (about 2 ri above Niigata.) This river was dug in olden times for irrigation purposes for the lands W. of the Shinanogawa. At Dowkiu (2 ri below Okodz) another and much more considerable part of the water separates from the Shinanogawa; the here separating river is called Nakanokuchikawa, and re-unites with the Shinano at Ono (3 ri above Niigata.) I think at low water this river even draws a greater quantity of water from the Shinanogawa than remains
