“Ōsaka, one of the five imperial cities, is agreeably seated in the province of Settsu, in a fruitful plain, and on the banks of a navigable river. At the east end is a strong castle; and at the western end, two strong, stately guard-houses, which separate it from its suburbs. Its length from these suburbs to the above-mentioned castle is between three and four thousand yards. Its breadth is somewhat less. The river Yodogawa runs on the north side, and below the city falls into the sea. This river rises a day and a half’s journey to the northeast, out of a midland lake in the province of Ōmi, which, according to Japanese histories, arose in one night, that spot which it now fills being sunk in a violent earthquake. Coming out of this lake, it runs by the small towns Uji and Yodo, from which latter it borrows its name, and so continues down to Ōsaka. About a mile before it comes to this city, it sends off one of its arms straight to the sea. This want, if any, is supplied by two other rivers, both which flow into it just above the city, on the north side of the castle, where there are stately bridges over them. The united stream having washed one third of the city, part of its waters are conveyed through a broad canal to supply the south part, which is also the larger, and that where the richest inhabitants live. For this purpose several smaller channels cut from the large one, pass through some of the chief streets, deep enough to be navigable for small boats, which bring goods to the merchant’s doors—though some are muddy, and not too clean, for want of a sufficient quantity and run of water. Upwards of an hundred bridges, many extraordinarily beautiful, are built over them.