STONE BRIDGES OF INNAI / Usa city

Innai Town in Usa City, has so many beautiful stone bridges that it is known as ‘Japan’s most stone–bridge–rich town’. There are several reasons why there are so many stone bridges in Innai Town. Firstly, the landscape features deep ravines and fast–flowing rivers, requiring robust stone bridges. Secondly, stone, the building material for these bridge was abundant in the area. Finally, locally there were many excellent stone masons skilled in building terraced fields and stone walls.

The so–called Torii–bashi Bridge in Innai Town, is a stone arch bridge believed to have been built in the late Edo period. It is named after the stone pillars at each end which resemble the torii gates commonly found at the entrance of Shinto shrines. There is a wide variety of bridges in the area, including the Mikutsu–bashi Bridge, with its graceful triple arches, and the Arase–bashi Bridge, which is still in use for traffic today. More than 70 stone bridges still exist in the town, some of which have been registered as national, prefectural, or municipal cultural assets. They were once essential routes to the locals, but now serve as sources for understanding the history and expertise used at the time.