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Rivers and contemporary Japanese cities.

Mad_Scientist in part wrote:

[N]ow that you mention it, it's amazing how many anime series feature cities with rivers in them.

Sooo... What anime can you think of that are set in a contemporary city with a river running through it? (and do you think that is a significant pattern?)

Shakugan no Shana
Bleach

I have absolutely no idea if this is significant or not.

Any anime set in Tokyo, Kioto, Osaka, Paris, London, Vienna, Berlin etc.
For those who missed history class i will reveal the great secret: most of those cities were established very long time ago. Back in time where river= source of water, food, way of quick transport and merchant's tract.

Cities tend to develop because they are the center of commerce. Historically, this generally meant that

1. It's a port city: either on a river--especially where the river runs into the sea--, near a bay, or both.

2. It's on a mountain path between two major cities/nations.

It's unsurprising for cities to have rivers running through them: Those tend to have the geographical advantages that allow for developing cities. Speaking of bays, though, it may be possible for the bridge to be crossing a bay rather than a river.

What is more interesting is when the plot makes use of the river. For example, in Fate/Stay Night, the river is just a piece of the scenery--it made for a pretty picture when Shirou and Saber went there during dusk. However, in Fate/Zero, the same river spoiler[is used as a marker for an alchemical assay to find something.]

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Forum - View topicRivers and contemporary Japanese cities.

Forum - View topic
Rivers and contemporary Japanese cities.