Five Bridges of Amakusa


Five Bridges of Amakusa are five road bridges at the south tip of Japan, linking the Kyushu mainland and the Amakusa Islands. The bridges connect to the islands of Ōyano-jima, Nagaura-jima, Ike-jima, and Maeshima, and were completed on September 24, 1966. The Five Bridges gave hope and confidence in the development of Japan's bridge-construction technology, and changed the lives of those living at the Amakusa Islands. Many tourists come to view the scenic beauty of the many islands, and the roads are called the Amakusa Pearl Line, based on the products of cultured pearls.

Significance

The timing of the completion of these bridges was good, as the popularization of automobiles in Japanese families started around the same year, with the launch of the Nissan Sunny 1000cc series and the Toyota Corolla 1100cc series, foretelling the so-called "My Car" age. The Five Bridges started as toll roads and were expected to continue for 39 years, but the explosive motorization collected tolls much faster, and ended the payment after nine years.

Bridges

In Japanese, a bridge is known as a hashi, but when the word "hashi" is used after words, the forms "bashi" or "kyō" may be used instead, depending on the situation, sometimes interchangeably.

Tenmon Bashi (or Tenmon Kyō)

This bridge connects Misumi, the tip of the Uto Peninsula, Kumamoto Prefecture with Maeshima island.　A continuous truss bridge of pearl color, it is ), above sea level, and ).

Ōyano Bashi

It connects Ōyano-jima and Nagaura-jima. It is a Langer Truss bridge of pale yellow color.

Nakano Hashi

This bridge connects Nagaura-jima and Ooike-jima islands.　It is a rigid-frame bridge, of concrete color, measuring.

Maeshima Bashi

This is a rigid-frame bridge of concrete color, connecting Ooike-jima and Maeshima. It is.

Matsushima Bashi (Hashi)

This is a pipe-arch bridge, painted in red, connecting Maeshima and Matsushimachō, Aizu, Kami-Amakusa. It is ), ), and.

History

The following are major events in the history of the bridges:
The road agency evaluated the construction of the Five bridges of Amakusa in 1976, by questionnaires. The results were: