Exploring Japanese Landmarks in Nishiki-e and Photographs

Kyo-bashi Bridge

A bridge which spanned the Kyohashi-gawa River. The date the bridge was built is unknown, however it is said to have been around the same time Nihon-bashi Bridge was built in 1603. There are several theories on the origin of the name of the bridge including one which says it was because it was the first bridge built heading towards Kyoto (capital) on the Tokaido Highway starting from Nihonbashi, and one that states it was because workers heading out from Kyoto operated a nearby brothel, etc. The bridge was decorated with an ornamental railing top as were the Nihon-bashi Bridge and the Shin-bashi Bridge. There were a large number of bamboo merchants on the riverbank northeast of the bridge so it was called Takegashi (bamboo riverbank), and there was a vegetable market on the west riverbank so it was called Daikongashi (Japanese radish riverbank). In 1959, it became a road when Kyohashi-gawa River was landfilled.