From the general configuration of the country it follows that great rivers with long courses are few, but numerous streams of lesser magnitude traverse all parts of the empire, affording excellent facilities for drainage and irrigation. Many of the larger of these are even navigable. The Ishikari River in Hokkaidō, with a length of 407 miles, is the longest in the empire, followed by the Shinano, in the main island, about 240 miles long. Nor is the land richer in extensive plains than in great streams. Valleys lying deep in the bosoms of the hills, plateaus along the margins of the great rivers, gentle slopes at the foot of mountain ranges, or stretches by the seashore, are the only comparatively level places to be seen. The Ishikari Moor, bordering the Ishikari River in Hokkaidō, is perhaps the most extensive. Its soil is rich, and it abounds in timber and verdure. Other well-known plains in the north lie along the course of the Tokachi River and by the seashore at Kushiro and Nemuro. Passing to the main island, we find, in the northeasterly section, the Ōshū plateau, traversed by the Kitakami and Abukuma Rivers, and extending over the provinces of Rikuchū, Rikuzen, Iwashiro, and Iwaki. There, too, the soil is rich, and fruitful lands cover a wide area. In the central section the valley of the Tone River forms the Hasshū plain of the Kwantō, spreading into the four provinces of Musashi, Kōzuke, Hitachi, and Shimōsa. Thickly populated and highly fertile, this plain is the most extensive in the main island. Next in order of magnitude comes the valley of the Kiso River, forming a part of the provinces of Mino and Owari, and making one great cultivated field. The Echigo plain, along the lower waters of the Shinano River, is the most extensive of all the littoral plains of Japan. For the rest, very wide plains exist in Kinai, along the banks of the Yodo and Yamato Rivers; while in Shikoku, the most extensive flat-lands are found along the course of the Yoshino River, and in Kiushū the lands by the banks of the Chikugo down to the Ariyake seabeach give to the provinces of Chikugo and Hizen a broad area of irrigated fields.