Skip to content
riveryas
EN

River

Ishikari River

268 km from source to mouth · Japan.

JapanJapanFlows into Ishikari Bay3rd longest in Japan

Follow the riverMonth by month

SourceMouthSapporoAsahikawaEbetsu
The river and every tributary in its basin, drawn from RiverATLAS (CC BY 4.0).

In numbers

Length

268km

Average flow

480m³/s

Basin

14,200km²

Drop

834m

from 834 m to 0 m

Country

1

The journey

From source to mouth

268 km of river and 29 stops on the way: 14 towns and cities on its banks, dams, bridges and the tributaries that feed it.

834 m0 m
Mount Ishikariat 834 m0 km
Ginga Falls19 km
Asahikawa333,530 people97 km
Chūbetsu Rivertributary101 km
Fukagawa26,152 people137 km
Uryu Rivertributary151 km
Sorachi Rivertributary172 km
Urausu1,749 people187 km
Ebetsu133,953 people240 km
Ishikari Bayat 0 m268 km
0100200268 km
  1. 0 kmMount Ishikariat 834 m
  2. 10 kmTaisetsu Dam
  3. 19 kmGinga Falls
  4. 19 kmRyūsei Falls
  5. 46 kmKamikawa5,294 people
  6. 80 kmPippu3,845 people
  7. 90 kmKita Asahikawaohashi Bridge
  8. 97 kmAsahi Bridge
  9. 97 kmAsahikawa333,530 people
  10. 101 kmChūbetsu Rivertributary
  11. 105 kmEgami Bridge
  12. 137 kmFukagawa26,152 people
  13. 145 kmMoseushi2,827 people
  14. 151 kmUryu Rivertributary
  15. 168 kmShintotsukawa6,551 people
  16. 168 kmKikusuichō6,484 people
  17. 169 kmTakikawa45,131 people
  18. 172 kmSorachi Rivertributary
  19. 176 kmSunagawa20,102 people
  20. 187 kmUrausu1,749 people
  21. 209 kmTsukigata3,691 people
  22. 222 kmTappu Bridge
  23. 238 kmYūbari Rivertributary
  24. 240 kmEbetsu133,953 people
  25. 240 kmChitose Rivertributary
  26. 252 kmToyohira Rivertributary
  27. 253 kmSapporo1,959,313 people
  28. 255 kmTōbetsu Rivertributary
  29. 264 kmBarato Rivertributary
  30. 266 kmIshikari58,755 people
  31. 268 kmIshikari Bayat 0 m

Water level along the river (RiverATLAS; the height is exaggerated). Towns: GeoNames and Wikidata; bridges, dams and tributaries: Wikidata.

River in Japan

At the mouth it carries 481 m³/s on average: an Olympic pool every 5.2 seconds. It drops from 834 m to 0 m, 3.1 m per kilometre on average. Its basin covers 14,200 km², about the size of ME. 3.0 million people live in it. Highest water: from April to May; lowest: from January to March and July. Its dams hold back little of its water (6.8% of a year's flow).

Read more on Wikipedia

Where to start

Ishikari River, month by month

Highest water: from April to May

Lowest water: from January to March and July. Freezing months (average below −4 °C): from January to February. Best months to visit: from June to July.

310
-8°94 mmJan
90
-7°71 mmFeb
90
-2°62 mmMar
1,300
5°60 mmApr
1,200
11°71 mmMay
1,100
16°75 mmJun
450
20°106 mmJul
580
21°141 mmAug
760
16°145 mmSep
830
10°114 mmOct
870
3°115 mmNov
550
-4°109 mmDec
Water (estimated flow)Air (average) Rain (mm)Best months

From about 90 m³/s in the lowest month to 1,300 m³/s in the highest. An estimate: the monthly flow is modelled from the lowest and highest months of WaterGAP (RiverATLAS, 1971–2000) and the rain and snow along the river (WorldClim). Dams change the real rhythm. The chip is the average air temperature; below it, the month's rain.

Plan the trip

Plan the trip: boat trips, a bed by the river, a car

Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.

The basin

Ishikari River: the basin in numbers

14,409 km² of land send their water to this river. This is what lives on it.

Lightly regulatedReservoirs can hold 6.8% of a year's flow.
  • 3.0millionpeople live in the basin
  • 208/km²people per km²
  • 388maverage altitude of the basin
  • 1,263mmof rain a year (basin average)
  • 5.4°Caverage air temperature
  • 17%protected areas
  • 1.0%covered by lakes
  • 1.1km³held in reservoirs

What covers the basin

  • 73% Forest
  • 11% Cropland
  • 6% Pasture
  • 7% Towns and cities

RiverATLAS (HydroATLAS v1.0, CC BY 4.0): land cover, people, protected areas, glaciers and dams over the whole basin upstream of the mouth.

Along the river

Ishikari River: what you find on the way

  • 8DamsTaisetsu Dam and 7 more
  • 65Weirs
  • 4WaterfallsKumoi Waterfall, Ryusei Waterfall, Ginga Waterfall and 1 more

From OpenStreetMap, within 1.9 km of the river. Not mapped is not the same as not there.

Cross-checked with our atlases

Ishikari River in our other atlases

What our sister atlases know about the waterfalls on this river, the lakes it flows through, the beaches at its mouth, the mountains where it rises and the islands off its mouth.

  • 2waterfalls on the riverCascadyas
  • 0lakes on its wayLakeyas
  • 29mountains at the sourcePeakyas

Waterfalls (2)

On the river, by Cascadyas

  1. Ginga Fallskm 17
  2. Ryūsei Fallskm 17

Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗

Lakes and reservoirs (0)

Lakes it flows through, by Lakeyas

    Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗

    Mountains at the source (29)

    Within 15 km of the source, by Peakyas

    1. Daisetsuzan Volcanic Group12 km away2,290m
    2. Mount Hakuun8.5 km away · prominence 180 m2,230m
    3. Mount Hokuchin12 km away2,244m
    4. Mount Pippu14 km away · prominence 147 m2,197m
    5. Mount Koizumi7.9 km away · prominence 38 m2,158m
    6. Mount Kuma12 km away · prominence 136 m2,210m
    7. Mount Mamiya11 km away2,185m
    8. Mount Hokkai10 km away · prominence 99 m2,149m

    21 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗

    From space

    The source and the mouth, seen from orbit

    Ishikari River: satellite view of the source
    The source14 km across
    Ishikari River: satellite view of the mouth
    The mouth16 km across

    Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX IT Services GmbH (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2016), CC BY 4.0. The glowing line is the river as drawn by RiverATLAS.

    Photos

    Ishikari River in pictures

    Ishikari-gawa-at-shintosukawa
    SN74LS00 · CC BY-SA 3.0
    Ishikari Riv 1
    Highten31 · CC BY-SA 3.0
    石狩川河口(Ishikari River Estuary) - panoramio (1)
    t-konno · CC BY-SA 3.0
    石狩川河川敷(Ishikari River riverbed ) - panoramio (1)
    t-konno · CC BY-SA 3.0

    Tributaries

    Where it flows, and what flows into it

    Tributaries (13)

    Also: Toyohira River, Chitose River, Yūbari River, Sorachi River, Tōbetsu River, Chūbetsu River, Uryu River, Naibetsu River, Barato River, Ikusyunbetsu River, Osarappe River, Ushubetsu River, Toppu River

    Where these numbers come from

    Name, length, placesWikidata (Q1061515) · CC0
    Course, profile, basinRiverATLAS v1.0 (HydroATLAS, Linke et al. 2019) · CC BY 4.0 — followed along the river network from the point given by Wikidata
    FlowWaterGAP (RiverATLAS), 1971–2000 · CC BY 4.0
    Climate along the riverWorldClim (RiverATLAS), 1970–2000 · CC BY 4.0
    Towns, bridges, damsWikidata · CC0; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0
    Along the river© OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL
    ImagesEOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons
    Our other atlasesCascadyas, Lakeyas, Peakyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; HydroLAKES · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST

    Every source and licence is on the data sources page.

    The family

    Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?

    Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.

    beachesCoastyaFind your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit
    lakesLakeyasEvery lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit
    mountainsPeakyasEvery summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit
    waterfallsCascadyasEvery waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit
    islandsIslandyasEvery island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.Coming soonVisit
    riversRiveryasEvery river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.You are here
    canyonsCanyonyasEvery canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit