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Towada-Hachimantai NP, Aomori
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Opened in 1995, Jogakura Bridge is 360 m long, but its record lies in the 255 m span between arch supports: the longest for a deck-arch bridge in Japan. The roadway rises 122 m above the gorge.
The arch is not symmetrical: its sides differ in height by 5.9 m, creating an unusually flat curve. Builders assembled it by cable erection in 3 stages on each side, a feat in this snowy mountain setting.
In 1922, travel writer Omachi Keigetsu explored the gorge on foot, wading swift water, jumping between rocks and edging along cliffs. A monument near the bridge preserves his poem from that visit.
The mountain stream far below looks like ideal fish habitat, but its water is strongly acidic, and fish do not live in this stretch. It is an unexpected detail in this celebrated national-park gorge.
Before the bridge, Route 394’s narrow, winding gorge road closed from mid-November to mid-May under more than 4 m of snow. The new crossing was planned to improve this vital Tsugaru–Nanbu connection.
Jogakura Gorge’s walls are patterned with column-shaped joints in volcanic rock formed about 10 million years ago. The fractured rock helps explain the gorge’s rugged, sheer appearance.
