About Shinkyo Bridge

Shinkyo curved wooden bridge is a bridge in Nikko architecture, in another article you will know more details about this cluster of monuments. In addition to the Shinkyo Bridge, there are also 5-storey towers, and Sando Tower are three prominent places of Nikko architecture cluster. Shinkyo curved wooden bridge is built in the style of a curved bridge spanning two ravines, at the bottom is the clear blue Daiya river combined with the mountains and forests to create a very beautiful picture. In some Japanese magazines, many magazines voted this as one of the top ten most scenic places in Japan.

Shinkyo Bridge was built in an unrecognized time, but most recently in 1902 the bridge was swept over by a flood of the Daiya River, after which the bridge was rebuilt according to the original and until 1904 is completed. Later, the bridge was often reinforced to avoid flash floods damaging the bridge. In 1999, the Shinkyo curved wooden bridge and Nikko monument complex were recognized by UNESSCO as a world cultural heritage.

The legend of the Shinkyo bridge (god’s bridge)

Legend has it that in 776, a Zen master took 10 disciples who wanted to cross the river, but the Daiya river was overflowing and it was the rainy season that made the Zen master and his disciples not know how to cross the river. At that time, the Zen master knelt by the river to call for divine assistance, shortly after the god of the Jinja River appeared, and took the two snakes on his shoulders to turn into a bridge to help the Zen master, and the disciples After turning to the other side of the bridge, looking back, there was no god of the river and the bridge. Because of this legend, at the location where the Zen master crossed the river, the court built a bridge to remember the river god who always helped the Zen teacher in that year and the Shinkyo Bridge was also called the god of bridge.

Shinkyo Bridge old and present

The Shinkyo Bridge was formerly no longer available but it still has historical and spiritual values. Shinkyo Bridge was built in accordance with the architecture of the previous bridge, so the current Shinkyo Bridge can be considered a copy of the old Shinkyo Bridge.

Because in the past, the bridge was built by the court, so it has a certain spiritual meaning to Shinto, so previously, Shinkyo Bridge was only used in Shinto ceremonies and normally people are not allowed to cross the bridge. . Today Shinkyo Bridge has become a tourist destination with beautiful scenery and the local government also allows tourists to cross the bridge but have to buy a ticket, the price for a single pass is 500 yen (about 80,000 VND) .

 Shinkyo curved wooden bridge as a place recognized as a world cultural heritage, and also voted by many prestigious magazines as one of the ten most beautiful landscapes in Japan.