The Kamo River has its source in the mountains in the area of
Mount Sajikigatake, around the boundary of
Kumogahata village and
Keihoku village in the
northern ward of Kyoto. Flowing into the
Kyoto Basin from the city area called
Kamigamo in the same northern ward of the city, from there it bends south-east and, around the spot known as
Demachi in the
Kamigyō (or "Upper Kyoto" ward), joins with the
Takano River which flows down from the northeastern direction, and there changes direction to due south through Kyoto's
Nakagyō ("Central") ward. In the vicinity of the Shijō Bridge at Shijō Street in the center of downtown Kyoto, the
Shirakawa River joins with it. At its southern part, the
Horikawa River and
West Takase River join with it, and at
Shimomukōjima-cho in the
Shimotoba part of
Fushimi Ward of Kyoto City, it joins with the
Katsura River, to become a tributary of the
Yodo River. There is a theory that in former times the main stream of the Kamo River was along the Horikawa river about north of
Misono Bridge, and when the
Heian Capital (now Kyoto) was established, the river was diverted to its present route. According to historian
Herbert E. Plutschow, "To allow a river to flow through and thereby divide a capital would have symbolized potential disunity of the nation. One of the first tasks, therefore, in laying out the new capital was to divert the rivers. The Kamo River once flowed through what is now Horikawa Street and met the Takano River south of their present confluence. Thus, large-scale works were required to prepare the land for the capital. The city was laid with its northernmost boundary at the present confluence of the Kamo and Takano rivers (just south of today's
Imadegawa Street)." The riverbanks where the Kamo River and Takano River join are known as the Tadasu River Banks (Jp., Tadasu-gawara 糺河原). At the triangular area of land here, there is the "River Confluence" shrine of
Shimogamo Shrine, which leads into the forested area,
Tadasu-no-mori. ==Onomastics==