Sōma

Sōma lies in the low country of northern Shimōsa, close to the waterways of the Tone basin. In the Edo period, works to divert the Tone eastward helped connect the river with the Edogawa and the sea near Chōshi. Boats carrying goods between Edo, northern Kantō and the northeast passed through this wider network. Reclamation and flood control also changed the neighbouring lowlands, bringing new fields into cultivation.