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Towada-Hachimantai NP, Aomori
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Jōgakura Bridge stretches 360 m across the gorge, with its arch 122 m above the river. Its 255 m arch span is the longest in Japan for an upper-deck arch bridge—a remarkable place to look down into the valley.
Jōgakura Stream has no fish: its water is strongly acidic. The rushing water and lush gorge may look like classic fish habitat, but here the stream’s chemistry tells a different story.
During a 1922 trek through the gorge, writer Omachi Keigetsu described torrent crossings and cliff-hugging “like a snail.” His guide, Shikanai Tatsugorō, even used a roughly 2.1 m stone pillar as a makeshift bridge. The gorge trail is now closed for safety.
In his 1922 account, Keigetsu singled out an isolated rock called Shishiiwa, or “Lion Rock.” Shrubs on top formed its mane, while the roar of the rushing stream supplied its voice—a vivid portrait of the gorge before today’s bridge.
A monument by the bridge preserves Keigetsu’s 1922 poem, which rendered Jōgakura as “嫦娥くら”—a literary nod to Chang’e, the figure from Chinese moon mythology. It’s an unexpectedly celestial name for this rugged gorge.
The gorge’s near-vertical rock columns are columnar joints in a body of dacite that intruded older rock. As the molten rock cooled and contracted, it cracked into the striking natural columns visible in the cliffs.
Jōgakura Bridge’s 255 m arch is strikingly shallow: its rise is just 1/10.8 of its span, and its ends differ in height by 5.9 m. Crews erected it using cable stays in 3 stages on each side.
The bridge uses weathering steel, which develops a protective surface rust. Aomori Prefecture praised its warm, changing color for helping the structure blend into the gorge’s natural scenery as the years pass.
Before the bridge opened in 1995, the gorge was a major obstacle on Route 394 between the Tsugaru and Nanbu regions. The new crossing improved the old route so the road could be used year-round.
