From its source in the high mountains to the northwest of Tokyo, the Tama River flows southwest before emptying into Tokyo Bay. The upper reaches in Okutama are part of the Chichibu-Tama National Park. The lower reaches separate Tokyo from Kanagawa Prefecture, with Haneda airport at the river's mouth.

Along the middle reaches, now in the western suburbs of Tokyo, settlement flourished in ancient times based on rice-farming made possible by the river's copious flow. A poem in the "Manyoshu," the eighth-century poetry anthology, sings the praises of the soft, rhythmic flow of the Tama and a lovely maiden washing cloth in the river. Meanwhile, Fuchu, on the left bank of this middle section of the Tama, became the capital of ancient Musashi Province before the rise of Edo in the 17th century.

The 1830s woodblock print shown here by Hasegawa Settan (1778-1843) conjures up an idyllic image of the Tama meandering through its broad flood plain. The undulating hills on the right bank embrace the villages of Sugao and Noborito in the north of present-day Kawasaki City; the rice fields on the left bank are part of Komae, adjacent to Setagaya Ward in Tokyo. Majestic Mount Fuji oversees the grand view, while the rugged peaks off to the right suggest scenic ravines in the river's upper reaches. Notice the meshed shapes piled along the embankment in the foreground. These are bamboo baskets filled with stones, used to buttress the banks in times of raging high water after heavy rains.