Talk:Kitakami/@comment-24210233-20150609033413/@comment-5380363-20150726083816

The Kitakami river originating from Mt. Shiruge and flows between the Kitakami Mountains and Ou Mountains, which is in northeastern Honshu. From the perspective of an Iwate resident (which the river flows through), my guess would be it's to signify the river coming from "far up high in the north." Or named after the mountain range that an Iwate resident would have though it originated from.

Don't take my word for it, though. I'm no cultural linguist.