The Yodo River is known as the only river flowing out of Lake Biwa; it changes names from the Seta River to the Uji River and then to the Yodo River before emptying into Osaka Bay. It is a Class A river flowing through Shiga, Kyoto, and Osaka, with a channel length of 75.1 km and a basin area of 8,240 km². Its basin population is the largest in western Japan, and the Yodo River system—including tributaries flowing into Lake Biwa and rivers such as the Kizu River—has the greatest number of tributaries in Japan, totaling 965. The Seta River flows out of Lake Biwa at Otsu City, becomes the Uji River around the point it enters Kyoto Prefecture, and then, near the Kyoto–Osaka border, joins the Katsura and Kizu Rivers; downstream from this confluence, it is called the Yodo River. Historically, river transport on the Yodo River was a major artery connecting Kyoto and Osaka, and by the late Edo period it is said that 1,500 people and 800 tons of cargo were carried in a single day. In modern times, roads and railways became the main Kyoto–Osaka transportation and logistics routes, and river transport declined. In 2017, as part of experiential tourism, Keihan Holdings began operating scheduled sightseeing boats between Hachikenya-hama Pier in Tenmabashi (Osaka) and Yodogawa River Park, prompting renewed interest in river transport.