Togetsukyo Bridge Audio Guide

Togetsu Bridge: what does the audio guide cover?

1. 01

   Welcome to Togetsu Bridge

   Welcome to Togetsu Bridge, known in Japanese as Togetsukyo. You are in the Arashiyama district of Kyoto, where the Katsura River, also called the Oi River, flows between Sagano on one side and the Arashiyama hills on the other. The bridge is one of the best-loved places in the whole area. The bridge is 155 meters long and 12.2 meters wide. It carries a two-lane road with a raised stone-paved walkway on each side. It does not cross the river in one stride. It runs from the northern bank to Nakanoshima Park, a sandbar island in the middle of the stream. The northern half of the bridge belongs to Ukyo Ward and the southern side to Nishikyo Ward. The present bridge was completed in June 1934. Its story reaches much further back, through emperors, Zen masters, a famous merchant and a coming-of-age custom involving a rule about not looking back. Over the next few stops I will tell you that story, one thread at a time.

2. 02

   The Moon That Crossed the Bridge

   Start with the name. Togetsu means something like "crossing the moon", and the tale behind it is wonderfully poetic. In the middle of the Kamakura period, the retired emperor Kameyama lived at the Saga detached palace called Kameyama-den. One night he watched the moon travel across the sky above the bridge, moving from downstream to upstream. He is said to have remarked that it looked like the moon crossing without a single cloud in its way. That remark is traditionally given as the origin of the name. The bridge did not always carry this name. It is said that the monk Dosho first built a bridge here in the Jowa era, between the years 834 and 848. It linked the town with Horin-ji temple, so it was originally known as Horin-ji Bridge. The moon-crossing name came much later. Later, in 1346, the Zen master Muso Soseki chose 10 outstanding views around Tenryu-ji temple and gave each a name. The bridge, written with a slightly different first character meaning "cross", was one of those 10. So the name was celebrated by a Zen master as well as an emperor.

3. 03

   Shoguns, Zen Masters and a Merchant Engineer

   Togetsu Bridge has a long record in the great chapters of Kyoto history. In July of 1342, the ruined Kameyama-den palace was being converted into Tenryu-ji temple. During the ceremony for that project, the repaired bridge was formally crossed for the first time, with Ashikaga Takauji and Ashikaga Tadayoshi in attendance. Four years later, Muso Soseki, who served as the founding priest of Tenryu-ji, placed the bridge among the Ten Views of Tenryu-ji. Then comes the early Edo period. In 1606, the wealthy Saga merchant Suminokura Ryoi carried out excavation work on the Hozu River upstream. At that time the bridge is said to have been moved to its present position. The bridge before that is described as a small earthen bridge. It is worth remembering that the Katsura River is prone to flooding. Over the centuries the bridge has been rebuilt many times, and the river's floods are often given as one reason. Tenryu-ji, the great Zen temple whose gardens lie just on the Arashiyama side of the river, was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994.

4. 04

   Do Not Look Back: The Thirteen Visit Tradition

   Now for a custom that gives the bridge a living, human role. Just to the west stands Horin-ji temple, where children who have turned 13 go to pray for wisdom and good health. This tradition is called Thirteen Visit, or Juusan-mairi, and it is said to have begun in 1773. The rule is the fun part. On the way home you must cross Togetsu Bridge, and until you reach the far end you must not turn around. Legend says that if you look back before you finish crossing, the wisdom you were just granted is handed back. Picture a thirteen-year-old marching across 155 meters of bridge, staring straight ahead, resisting every urge to glance over a shoulder. As you walk here yourself, notice how the bridge is built. The railings are designed to blend into the Arashiyama scenery, and the structure is built on reinforced concrete piers and girders. Just beyond the southern end, a smaller companion bridge called Togetsu Kobashi crosses the next channel. It is 19 meters long, and its center is raised by 10 centimeters in a gentle curve. Its banks were raised by about 75 centimeters to guard against floodwater.

5. 05

   Before You Head Off

   Togetsu Bridge is one of the great seasonal stages of Kyoto. It is famous for cherry blossoms in spring and autumn color in the fall, and those are the seasons when visitors gather in the largest numbers. In summer, fresh green fills the hills, and boats on the river give a different view of the bridge from the water. Before you move on, try a small experiment. Look at the bridge from the river's edge and then from the walkway, and see how the hills behind it seem to change the bridge's character. Think of the 10 views Muso Soseki once chose, and ask which of them you can still recognize in this landscape. And if you are curious about what lies beyond the bridge, the grounds of Tenryu-ji and the quiet bamboo grove nearby are close at hand, ready to continue the Arashiyama story whenever you are.