Kawasaki Bridge

Kawasaki Bridge is a cable stayed bridge for bicycles and pedestrians over the Okawa, linking Tenma in Kita ward with Amijimacho in Miyakojima ward. Where the bridge stands there was an Edo period ferry between Tenma Kawasaki and Bizenjima, and nearby stood the Kawasaki Toshogu, which enshrined Ieyasu, the Kawasaki Okura, storehouses built to hold relief rice for the town magistrate's office, the residence of the hason bugyo, the magistrate for repairs, and the residences of the yoriki officers of the town magistrate's office. In Meiji 10 (1877) a private bridge was built here, and because it charged a toll of three rin per person it was apparently called Zenitori bashi, the money taking bridge. That bridge too was washed away in the great flood of Meiji 18 (1885). The present bridge was erected in Showa 53 as part of a large cycle route linking Nakanoshima Park and Senri Expo Park. It is a two span continuous cable stayed bridge 129.2 m long and 3 m wide, with cables from a tall tower carrying the girder, and it received an award from the Japan Society of Civil Engineers for a design that keeps vibration low for a footbridge and that fits the setting of a riverside park. Events such as the cherry blossom walk at the Mint Bureau in spring and the boat procession of the Tenjin Matsuri in summer take place near the bridge, so many people cross it.

Translated from the Osaka Prefecture and Osaka City tourist listings (観光施設一覧, CC BY 4.0).