Amur

Amur , Chin. Heilongjiang, river, c.1,800 mi (2,900 km) long, formed by the confluence of the Shilka and Argun rivers, NE Asia, at the Russian-Chinese border; the Amur-Shilka-Onon system is c.2,700 mi (4,350 km) long. The Amur flows generally southeast, forming for more than 1,000 mi (1,610 km) the border between Russia and China, then NE through Russia before entering the Tartar Strait opposite Sakhalin island. Its chief tributaries are the Ussuri, Songhua, Zeya, and Bureya rivers. One of the chief waterways of Asia, the Amur is navigable for small craft for its entire length during the ice-free season (May-Nov.). The chief ports are the Russian cities of Khabarovsk (the head of large craft navigation), Komsomolsk, and Nikolayevsk.

Amur River Society (Kokuryûkai) A Japanese ultra-nationalist organization often mistranslated as the ‘Black Dragon Society’, which before 1945 promoted Japan's conquest of East Asia. It was established as a successor to other groups in 1901 by Uchida Ryôhei with the support of leading figures on the ultra-nationalist fringe. This was an influential but small grouping of activists which promoted Japan's expansion into Manchuria and the war with Russia. The Society was able to forward its policies both with the support of sympathizers among Japan's ruling establishment and through the more direct actions of its members, who combined espionage, agitation, assassination, and scholarship at home and abroad to pursue their objectives.