Shinkawa was a canal that served as a tributary of Kamejimagawa River, and it ran parallel to Nihonbashigawa River through the center of what today is Shinkawa 1 chōme, Chuō Ward. Along the riverbank, there were many liquor wholesalers selling kudarizake (high-quality sake brewed in Kansai). The sake would arrive in Edo in November every year by boat ("tarukaisen"), and the arrival of the new sake was one of the annual events. Shinkawa was filled in in the year 1948.