Nipponbashi Audio Guide

Nipponbashi Bridge: what does the audio guide cover?

1. 01

   Welcome to Nippon-bashi Bridge

   Welcome to Nippon-bashi Bridge, a crossing over the Dotonbori River in the heart of Osaka. Its local name is 日本橋, and in Osaka it is read Nipponbashi. The bridge carries Sakaisuji, one of the city's great north to south streets, and it stands in the Chuo ward. A quick word about what this guide can offer. There is no detailed description of the bridge's present-day look, so I will not paint you a picture of railings and views. What is well documented is the bridge's long story: its life as a post-town crossing in the Edo period, its steady transformation from wood to iron to steel, and the district that took its name. So take a moment where you stand. You are on a spot where roads and water have met for centuries, and each layer of that history is worth a look as we go.

2. 02

   Nippon-bashi Bridge in the Edo Period

   Picture this crossing in the Edo period. Sakaisuji was then part of the Kishu Kaido, the road that led out toward the Kii region, and Nippon-bashi Bridge carried it over the Dotonbori. The stretch of street along the bridge was known as Nagamachi, which means long town, and it was an old post town with the bustle that goes with one. The bridgeheads had a boat landing, so this was a place where travelers on foot and cargo on the water changed hands. That made it a key point for land and water traffic. At the south end, on the west side where the road turned toward the busy Dotonbori, the shogunate set up a kosatsuba. That was an official notice board, rather like a public gazette board of today, where the authorities posted their proclamations for everyone passing through. The bridge itself was a wooden one. It is said to have been about 40 meters long and about 7 meters wide. Keep that figure in mind, because it makes the later changes much more striking.

3. 03

   From Iron to Steel at Nippon-bashi Bridge

   The wooden bridge did not last into the modern age. In 1877, in the Meiji era, Nippon-bashi Bridge became an iron bridge. It was rebuilt again in 1901, and then in 1912 it became a steel bridge strong enough to carry the city trams. That last rebuilding went hand in hand with a major widening of Sakaisuji. The bridge was widened to match the road, reaching 21.8 meters. Compare that with the roughly 7 meters of the old wooden bridge and you can see how much heavier the traffic had become. The bridge you cross today dates from 1969, when it was rebuilt as part of subway construction. A small reminder of the earlier bridge survives, because the old corner posts, known in Japanese as oyabashira, still stand at the bridgehead. Look for them. They are the one piece of the earlier crossings you can still see.

4. 04

   A District Named for Nippon-bashi Bridge

   The bridge gave its name to the neighborhood around it. Nipponbashi is both a bridge and a district, with addresses running from the first to the fifth block. The first and second blocks belong to the Chuo ward, while the third to fifth blocks lie in the Naniwa ward, so the dividing line between wards runs right through the one place name. The district has seen dramatic days. On the eleventh of August in 1918, people who had gathered for a citizens' meeting at the Tennoji Public Hall, called to protest soaring rice prices, spilled over into Nipponbashi. They went to the rice shops there and demanded that rice be sold cheaply. The next day crowds again filled the streets across the district, pressing the rice dealers. These were the Rice Riots, and this part of Osaka was caught up in them. That episode belongs to the district rather than to the bridge itself, but it shows how this area, long a crossroads for people and goods, remained a place where the city's everyday life played out in public.

5. 05

   Before You Head Off

   Before you move on, take one more look along Sakaisuji and then down toward the Dotonbori River. This is the line that once ran as the Kishu Kaido, where a wooden bridge of about 7 meters in width gave way to a steel span as wide as the avenue itself. See if you can find the old corner posts at the bridgehead, and try to imagine the notice board that once stood at the south end, where the road turned toward Dotonbori. Then let your eyes follow the street into the neighborhood that carries the bridge's name. Every crossing has a few more stories, and this one still has plenty to give. Keep wandering, and ask me about whatever catches your eye.