Tanize Suspension Bridge
(看板)
The Tanize Suspension Bridge is Japan’s longest steel suspension bridge used for local foot traffic. It is 297 meters long and stands 54 meters above the Totsukawa River, connecting Uenoji, where you are standing, to Tanize, the hamlet on the other side. For many years, villagers who lived on the far mountain had to cross the river on log bridges constructed at ground level. The bridges were useful but often washed away, as this area receives some of the heaviest rainfall in the country, particularly during typhoon season. The present bridge was built in 1954, after residents pooled their resources with government assets to fund construction. It was reinforced in 1972 to withstand strong winds and earthquakes, and has become one of the area’s most popular landmarks.
Tanize, on the other side of the bridge, is a typical community of this area. Residents have produced a “Relaxed Walking Trail” map leading to hamlet highlights, among them an intimate café, private lodging facilities, a picturesque shrine, and an observation deck with a panoramic view of this bridge. The deck was built, residents say, at the spot where people from the hamlet would use hand signals to communicate with friends and family on the other side of the river in the days before the bridge was constructed.
• Cross the bridge at your own risk.
• Please do not run or intentionally shake the bridge.
• Please obey the security guards’ instructions, issued when the bridge is crowded.